1. A. Michrafy ^a, G. Alonso Aruffo ^a, D. Oulahna ^a. 

^a RAPSODEE CNRS IMT Mines Albi 

Purpose. Drucker-Prager Cap (DPC), is a widely used model for powder compaction behavior. For a good prediction of density distribution using Finite Element Method (FEM), accurate input data are crucial. A Standard Method Calibration (SMC) of DPC parameters is commonly used.  However, FEM simulation of die compaction is often carried out using identical scale. To our knowledge, the transposition of such data to the simulation of another die shape and size, has not been studied. The objective of this work is to investigate the transposition of such data to a parallelepiped shape. 

Methods. DPC model input data of microcrystalline cellulose powder was determined using SMC and an instrumented die of 1 cm³ volume. Used in FEM simulation of compaction of a parallelepiped compact of 42 cm³, such data didn’t allow to predict the compaction cycle. To overcome this, a new procedure was developed to account the shape and size. The new data were further used to compute the density distribution of deep grooved parallelepiped compact and predictions were validated using x-ray tomography measurements. 

Results. With the new data, the measured compaction cycle of a flat face parallelepiped compact was predicted.  Moreover, the predicted density distribution of deep grooved parallelepiped compact was validated using x-ray tomography measurements. 

 Conclusions. This work explored the transposition of DPC input data from a 1 cm³ cylindrical die to a large parallelepiped die using a new procedure of calibration. This methodology showed its robustness to predict the density distribution of deep grooved compact.