Stress-induced anisotropy of sintering alumina:: Discrete element modelling and experiments

Simulations based on the discrete element method are employed to investigate the anisotropic sintering of alumina. The results are compared with accompanying experiments. It is shown that during sinter forging an anisotropic microstructure develops, which leads to anisotropic mechanical properties. Several ways to characterize and measure this anisotropy are presented and utilized to identify the causes for anisotropic sintering behaviour. Discrete element modelling can further be employed to determine anisotropic constitutive parameters as a function of density. Also, the influence of grain rearrangement on the development of anisotropy is investigated. (C) 2007 Acta Materialia Inc. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.