Modeling and simulation of powder compaction: Parameter prediction for the Drucker-Prager cap model and densification of Al-WC green compacts

In powder metallurgy, the densification of green compacts plays a crucial role in determining the final properties of components. This study systematically investigated the densification behavior of aluminum matrix–tungsten carbide (Al–WC) composite powder compacts. The investigated systems included mixtures with Al and WC particle sizes of 80–150 μm and WC volume fractions of 0%, 10%, 20%, 30%, and 40%, as well as mixtures containing 30 vol% WC with particle sizes of 30–80 μm, 80–150 μm, and 200–350 μm. Under different processing conditions, a Drucker–Prager cap (DPC) constitutive model was established for the Al–WC mixed powders and calibrated using the ABAQUS platform. Based on powders with particle sizes of 80–150 μm and WC volume fractions ranging from 0% to 40%, the compaction process was systematically analyzed. Functional relationships between WC volume fraction and the DPC constitutive parameters of the green compacts were derived at different relative density levels. For the Al–WC powder system, a WC volume-fraction-dependent predictive framework for the relative density of green compacts was established by integrating the derived function with the DPC model and finite element simulations, applicable within the investigated compositional range. To validate the proposed framework, mixtures containing 15 vol% and 25 vol% WC were examined. The DPC parameters calculated from the derived functions showed a maximum deviation of 9.786% compared with experimentally measured values. The predicted relative density exhibited an error not exceeding 0.666%