Study on the densification behaviour of copper with aluminum & nickel powders through spark plasma sintering

Abstract

Powder metallurgy is a powder-based manufacturing process of producing new materials with desired properties. Spark plasma sintering (SPS) is one of the effective densification processes in powder metallurgy to produce the powder compacts at a reasonable cost by simultaneous application of pressure and heat. The principal aim of this research work was to create a high-density copper-based shape memory alloy using a ball milling with spark plasma sintering and to analyze the density and hardness of the powder compacts. Three elemental metal powders, namely copper (84 %), aluminum (12 %), and nickel (4 %), were taken in producing the powder compacts. The microstructure of the compacted specimen was analyzed using scanning electron microscopy. The density and hardness of the powder compacts were determined using appropriate tests, and the results were compared with the conventional sintering process. The outcomes indicate that the density and hardness of the powder compacts were improved in the spark plasma sintering.