Variation of packing structure of powder compact with particle shape

Material characteristics of powder compact are closely related to the packing arrangement of particles. In this paper, the effect of particle shape was investigated on the non-uniform packing structure. In the experiments, the shape of stainless steel particles was modified by changing the operational conditions of rotational impact blending and differently shaped particles were consolidated under piston press. The packing structure of the powder bed was expressed by void-size distribution. As a result, it has been clarified that the void-size distribution becomes narrow as the particle shape gets elongated, and the local voidage decreases. Thus, a uniform packing structure is apparently attained.