Overall Budget: ca €83000  

Sectoral Group: EuroPress&Sinter  

Contractor: IAPK, Institut für Anwendungstechnik Pulvermetallurgie und Keramik an der RWTH Aachen e.V. (Institute of Applied Powder Metallurgy and Ceramics at RWTH Aachen University) 

EPMA are seeking partners for the InducSim Club Project, a collaborative project. 

The IAPK of the RWTH Aachen University first presented this proposed research project during Euro PM2023 Congress and Exhibition in Lisbon last October. The enclosed PDF provides an overview of the project’s core concepts. 

 IAPK has a model that can predict distortion during the induction hardening of powder metallurgy (PM) components. They plan to validate this model on a selection of sintered geometries. The goal of this research is to answer the following questions: 

 Which material parameters have the greatest impact on the heat treatment results? 

• How accurate is finite element analysis (FEA) in predicting hardness and residual stress profiles for both simple and complex induction hardened PM parts? 
• Can any correlations be established between simulation outputs and the risk of cracking? 

Furthermore, the project aims to gain insights into the accuracy of FEA predictions for distortion in parts with demanding geometric features, such as thin cross-sections and asymmetry. 

 We are seeking companies (press&sinter part producers, powder makers, induction hardening equipment manufacturers, end users, and any interested party) willing to contribute financially to this project and share the resulting knowledge. Participation is not restricted to European companies, the only requirements are that the consortium partners become EPMA members for the project’s duration, cover their share of the project’s total budget of approximately 83,000 euros, and provide materials or activities that will benefit the project’s progress. If we can secure enough partners, the cost per participant will be minimal.  

 If you want more info on the framework of EPMA Club Projects, see this link. 

 If you are interested in taking part in InducSim, please contact the relevant EPMA Technical Manager (Bruno Vicenzi, bv@epma.com) as soon as possible.