Microstructure and properties of tungsten‐40 wt.–% copper composites fabricated by binder jet 3D printing

Abstract

AbstractIn this work, the tungsten‐copper composites were fabricated by binder jet 3D printing technology. The effects of different printing layer thicknesses (50 μm to 100 μm) on the green density and green strength were investigated. Then, under the optimal layer thickness, the effects of different sintering temperatures (1300 °C to 1600 °C) on the microstructure and densification of tungsten‐40 wt.–% copper composites were studied. The experimental results showed that when the printing layer thickness was set as a lower value (50 μm), the tungsten‐40 wt.–% copper green part had the best strength and its density reached a maximum value of 60.73 %. After sintering for green parts printed with 50 μm layer thickness, the relative density, thermal conductivity and electrical conductivity of sintered parts first increased and then decreased with increasing sintering temperature. In our experiments, the tungsten‐40 wt.–% copper sample fabricated by binder jet 3D printing with a printing layer thickness of 50 μm under a sintering temperature of 1500 °C displayed the best properties, in which the relative density, thermal conductivity and electrical conductivity were 97.04 %, 228 W⋅m−1⋅K−1 and 46.5 % IACS, respectively.