Microstructure and mechanical properties of Cu-Cu2O composites produced by hot pressing of copper powder

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Abstract

The article presents results of studying microstructure and mechanical properties of a composite material (Cu-Cu2O). The samples were taken from copper electrical contacts for electric welding machines manufactured by hot pressing PMS-1 powder under of «Uralelectromed». The microstructure was studied using scanning electron microscopy and scanning probe microscopy. The mechanical properties were determined by nanoindentation using the authors’ technique, which involves converting the indentation diagram F(h) into the tensile diagram σ(ε). Metallographic studies have shown a small grain size (~10 μm), the content of cuprite Cu2O inclusions of ~1 μm in size with faceted morphology was close to 20%. The results of measuring the mechanical properties: Young’s modulus E = 119.89±5.75 GPa, hardness HIT = 2.28±0.15 GPa; elastic recovery of the material R = 5.54±2.33%; plasticity characteristic δА = 94.46±2.33%; yield strength σт ≈ 600 MPa. Evaluation of mechanical stresses due to the two-phase nature of the composite material Cu-Cu2O showed that the additional pressure, related to the length of the rupture line, is approximately 50 times greater than the external force, and this can be the main reason for the failure of the products.

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About the authors

G. A. Tkachuk

Ural Federal University named after the First President of Russia B.N. Yeltsin

Author for correspondence.
Email: O.A.Chikova@urfu.ru
Russian Federation, Yekaterinburg

V. A. Maltsev

Ural Federal University named after the First President of Russia B.N. Yeltsin

Email: O.A.Chikova@urfu.ru
Russian Federation, Yekaterinburg

O. A. Chikova

Ural Federal University named after the First President of Russia B.N. Yeltsin; Ural State Mining University

Email: O.A.Chikova@urfu.ru
Russian Federation, Yekaterinburg; Yekaterinburg

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2. Fig. 1. SEM images of the microstructure of copper electrical contact material with indents (a, b) and a typical measurement protocol using the nanoindentation method (c)

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3. Fig. 2. SPM image of the relief (a – signal «Mag») and properties (b – signal «Phase») of the surface of the sintered copper electrical contact material

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4. Fig. 3. Histograms of the distribution of values of Young’s modulus E (a) and hardness HIT (b) of the Cu-Cu2O composite material

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5. Fig. 4. Nanoindentation protocol: a – of the indentation diagram F(h); b – the tensile diagram σ(ε) for determining the yield strength of a composite material (Cu-Cu2O). Initial section of the loading curve

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