Experimental Verification of the Similarity of Dynamic Compaction Processes of a Copper Powder Medium in Dies of Elementary Shapes

The similarity of dynamic compaction processes was investigated theoretically and predicted in our previous report, where powder media in a die were assumed to be of a simple type, and the punch and plug to be rigid bodies. The predictions were based on a set of one-dimensional equations and a set of nondimensionalized one-dimensional equations. The objective of this study is to examine the similarity experimentally and to present the results of compaction experiments in order to verify the existence predicted. The experiments were carried out on a copper powder medium in dies having inner cross-section in elementary shapes such as circle, square and triangle. The pressure of the medium at a point contacting the end of the plug, the density distribution and mean density of the green compacts were measured in the experiment. From the analysis of the experimental data the validity of the dynamic similarity theory was demonstrated and the similarity was verified to exist despite the differences in size and shape between the dies used, which implies that the copper powder medium in the dies of elementary shapes is of a simple type. Relations between the density and the shape coefficients showed that the density reached maximum as the coefficients decreased approaching a certain point with a decreasing influence of the die wall friction, while past that point, contrary to the prediction by the theory, it began to decrease due to an increasing influence of the elastic deformation of the punch and plug.