A Cold-Pressing Method Combining Axial and Shear Flow of Powder Compaction to Produce High-Density Iron Parts

Abstract

Highly performance methods for cold pressing (cold die forging) of preforms from iron powder with subsequent heat treatment and producing ready parts made of powder are described in the paper. These methods allow fabricating parts with smooth surfaces and improved mechanical characteristics—porosity, tensile strength. Application of the traditional design set-up with a single-axial loading is restricted to high stresses in the dies to deform the preforms that lead to cracks formation. New powder compaction schemes by applying active friction forces (shear-enhanced compaction) make it possible to unload dies and produce high-quality parts by cold pressing. The scheme allows moving the die in the direction of the material flow with a velocity that exceeds the material flow velocity.