Abstract
The present study has investigated the hot isostatic pressing (HIP) process of a stainless steel powder using finite element method. Thermal elasto‐viscoplastic constitutive equations are deduced from the Perzyna viscoplastic rheological model. A three‐dimensional simulation was performed within MSC.Marc software. Temperature distribution and evolution of relative density were discussed. The results of the simulation indicate that noticeable temperature gradients would cause the nonuniform relative density distribution during the HIP process; it is also found that there is a slight decrease in the relative density of the compact at the early stage of the HIP cycle. The finite element results were compared with experimental data.
This work was supported by the Chinese National 863 High Technology Research Plan Project (grant no. 2007AA03Z115), National Major Science and Technology Special Project (grant no. 2009ZX04005‐041‐03), Huazhong University of Science and Technology (grant no. Z2009014) and Independent fund of State Key Laboratory of Materials Processing and Die & Mould Technology of Huazhong University of Science and Technology.