Study of the cold compaction of composite powders by the discrete element method

We present numerical simulations of the cold isostatic and close die compaction of mixtures of soft and hard powders. The simulations use the discrete element method with periodic boundary conditions on packing of 4000 spherical monosize particles. The two mechanisms that are generally put forward to explain the retarding effect of hard particles on the compaction have been analysed. First, we have studied in which condition the hard particles form a cluster that hinders the homogeneous distribution of the load. Friction between particles is shown to affect significantly the formation of such a cluster. Second, the additional deformation that soft particles must undergo in the presence of hard non-deformable particles has been evaluated. Related to this last issue, the importance of including hardening effects in the constitutive equation of the soft phase is demonstrated.