Experimental analysis and finite element simulation of the co-sintering of bi-material components

This paper investigates the use of numerical simulations to describe solid state diffusion of the sintering stage during a Powder Injection Moulding (PIM) process for micro-bi-material components based on a thermo-elasto-viscoplastic model. The sintering behaviour was studied with dilatometer experiments, gravitational beam-bending and free sintering tests. As a complement to this experimental study, a finite element simulation of the operation was performed. The simulations were based on constitutive equations identified from specific experiments performed for each blend at different sintering heating rates and loadings. Finally, the simulation results are compared to other experimental and simulation results to evaluate the reliability of the proposed model. The numerical results addressing shrinkage and the relative density were found to be fully consistent with the experimental observations.