Deformation and cracking during sintering of bimaterial components processed from ceramic and metal powder mixes. Part II: Numerical simulation

In a companion paper (Part I), the processing of two-layer parts by co-sintering of two powder blends has been investigated. As a complement to this experimental study, a finite element simulation of this operation has been achieved. This simulation was based on constitutive equations identified from specific experiments performed with each blend. The numerical results provided deformation and internal stress information that have been found to be fully consistent with the experimental observation. In particular they confirm that cracking occurs in the course of heating, when one material starts densifying and the other one is still brittle, whereas a large densification mismatch at high temperature is not harmful because the low viscosity of both materials leads to the relaxation of internal stresses. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.