Predicting the quality of materials after they are subjected to plasma sintering is a challenging task because of the non-linear relationships between the process variables and mechanical properties. Furthermore, the variables governing the sintering process affect the microstructure and the mechanical properties of the final product. Therefore, an artificial neural network modeling was carried out to correlate the parameters of the spark plasma sintering process with the densification and hardness values of Ti-6Al-4V alloys dispersed with nano-sized TiN particles. The relative density (%), effective density (g/cm3), and hardness (HV) were estimated as functions of sintering temperature (oC), time (min), and composition (change in % TiN). A total of 20 datasets were collected from the open literature to develop the model. The high-level accuracy in model predictions (>80%) discloses the complex relationships among the sintering process variables, product quality, and mechanical performance. Further, the effect of sintering temperature, time, and TiN percentage on the density and hardness values were quantitatively estimated with the help of the developed model.

The properties of powder metallurgy products are related to their densities. In the present work, we demonstrate a method to apply artificial neural networks (ANNs) trained on experimental data to predict the bulk density of barium titanates. The density is modeled as a function of pressure, press rate, heating rate, sintering temperature, and soaking time using the ANN method. The model predictions with the training and testing data result in a high coefficient of correlation (R2 = 0.95 and Pearson’s r = 0.97) and low average error. Moreover, a graphical user interface for the model is developed on the basis of the transformed weights of the optimally trained model. It facilitates the prediction of an infinite combination of process parameters with reasonable accuracy. Sensitivity analysis performed on the ANN model aids the identification of the impact of process parameters on the density of barium titanates.

An artificial neural network (ANN) model is developed for the analysis and simulation of correlation between flake powder metallurgy parameters and properties of AA2024-SiC nanocomposites. The input parameters of the model are AA 2024 matrix size, ball milling time, and weight percentage of SiC nanoparticles and the output parameters are density and hardness. The model can predict the density and hardness of the unseen test data with a correlation of 0.986 beyond the experimental data. A user interface is designed to predict properties at new instances. We have used the model to simulate the individual as well as the combined influence of parameters on the properties. Moreover, we have analyzed the calculated results from the powder metallurgical point of view. The developed model can be used as a guide for further composite development.