Modelling of swelling of Fe–Cu compacts sintered at temperatures above the copper melting point

Swelling of Fe–Cu sintered alloy at temperatures above the copper melting point during sintering has been studied for many years. It has been shown that the penetration of liquid copper into iron interparticle boundaries is the dominant mechanism. Based on this mechanism, a model of swelling of Fe–Cu sintered alloys at the copper melting point is established. The particle coordination number is introduced to take into account the porosity. Different heating rates lead to different thicknesses of the diffusion layer between iron and copper particles, which also influences the swelling. In the model, the combined effect of copper content, porosity, particle size and heating rate on the swelling is analysed. The calculated volume and dimensional growths show a qualitative agreement with the published data. The calculated results can be used to predict swelling of Fe–Cu compacts with different copper contents and green densities.