Contact Resistance Influence in Numerical Simulation of Resistance Sintering

Resistance sintering is a fast-sintering process used to compact and form a metallic part thanks to heat and pressure. To better control the geometry of the sintered material, a multi-physical model has been developed. To describe the current flow, the thermal exchanges and the mechanical aspects, this model requires the use of precise material properties as well as the knowledge of contact resistances. Indeed, these parameters are of first importance to describe the energy distribution in the system and the resulting metallurgical state.

Different approaches have been compared in this work to study their influence on the values of interest. By considering the contact resistances as a function of pressure and temperature, this full 3D multi-physical approach offers a new tool to precisely predict the geometry of the resulting assembly.