Parametric dependency of a constitutive model describing solid state sintering of cemented carbides

Abstract

This study focuses on an inverse modelling approach, using FEM to simulate the sintering of WC-Co powder using a continuum model. From a previously developed constitutive model of cemented carbide, the dependency of the material parameters is investigated in a sensitivity study. A value of sensitivity is assigned to all the material parameters and calculated at different steps in the sintering process, which represent its importance for capturing the shrinkage during sintering. The approach is that only the more sensitive parameters should be fitted when changing experimental setup or material composition, leaving the less important parameters constant, resulting in fewer tests and iterations. This approach is tested in an optimization of WC-Co powder sintering cycle, where the shrinkage curve is experimentally determined. It is concluded that some of the material parameters play a minor role in the modelling and could be set as constants in an optimization. The constitutive material model alone is unable to capture all features that appeared in the shrinkage curve during the experiment. Improvements of the model are discussed. An additional investigation, performed without heating rate dependency, shows that the remaining material parameters could compensate for the omitted heating rate for a known sintering cycle without losing accuracy.