THE EFFECT OF REINFORCEMENTS ON THE DENSIFICATION OF A METAL-POWDER

The consolidation of Cu powder with and without particulates has been investigated. It was found that the same deformation mechanism applies over a wide range of consolidation conditions and reinforcement contents. A formalism previously used to characterize the consolidation of metal powder has been successfully extended to the composite system. The results demonstrate densification retardation caused by the reinforcements that depends both on aspect ratio and on mixing heterogeneity. Furthermore, the effect is greater than the corresponding effect of the reinforcements on the creep-rate of the fully densified body.