Preparation of Ti<sub>3</sub>SiC<sub>2</sub> Particulate Reinforced Cu Matrix Composite by Warm Compaction Powder Metallurgy

Abstract

Increasing density is the best way to increase the performance of powder metallurgy materials. Conventional powder metallurgy processing can produce copper green compacts with density less than 8.3 g/cm 3 (a relative density of 93%). Performances of these conventionally compacted materials are substantially lower than their full density counterparts. Warm compaction, which is a simple and economical forming process to prepare high density powder metallurgy parts or materials, was employed to develop a Ti 3 SiC 2 particulate reinforced copper matrix composite with high density, high electrical conductivity and high strength. Copper matrix composites reinforced with 5, 10 and 15 mass.% Ti 3 SiC 2 particulate were prepared by compacting powder with a pressure of 700 MPa at 145°C, then sintered at 1000°C under cracked ammonia atmosphere for 60 minutes. Their density, electrical conductivity, ultimate tensile strength and elongation percentage decrease with the increase in particulate concentration, while hardness increases with the increase in particulate concentration. A small addition of Ti 3 SiC 2 particulate can increase the hardness and the wear-resistivity of the composite without losing much of electrical conductivity. Using warm compaction technique, sintered composite with 5 % Ti 3 SiC 2 , has an ultimate tensile strength of 201 MPa with an elongation of 8.1 %, a hardness of HB 68 and a resistivity of 11.04 x 10 -8 Ω m.