In addition to the total strain at

In addition to the total strain at the end of the densification process, we also use our 3D reconstructed tomographs to assess the evolution of the strain distribution inside the wet compact during stress relaxation (Fig. 5). This provides valuable information about the propagation of the externally imposed stress throughout the compact microstructure. For wet specimens pressed at 500 MPa, the restructured tomographs indicate that most of the longitudinal displacement within the compact develops in the first few couple of minutes of the 30-min long stress relaxation experiment (Fig. 5a,b). Indeed, the net displacement measured after 2 minutes is about 3 times higher than that observed in the last 10 minutes of the test. Such a high initial deformation releases some of the elastic energy stored in the pressed compact, resulting in the strong stress relaxation detected by the mechanical load cell in the beginning of the test.