Publications Details

Ceramic compaction models: Useful design tools or simple trend indicators?

Mahoney, F.M.

It is well-known that dry pressing of ceramic powders leads to density gradients in a ceramic compact resulting in non-uniform shrinkage during densification. This necessitates diamond grinding to final dimensions which, in addition to being an extra processing step, greatly increases the manufacturing cost of ceramic components. To develop methods to control and thus mitigate density variations in compacted powders, it has been an objective of researchers to better understand the mechanics of the compaction process and the underlying material and tooling effects on the formation of density gradients. This paper presents a review of models existing in the literature related to the compaction behavior of ceramic powders. In particular, this paper focuses on several well-known compaction models that predict pressure and density variations in powder compacts.