Tungsten-copper composites with various copper nano-particles volume fractions were manufactured
and examined. Tungsten-copper composites with 20 pct, 25 pct, and 30 pct volume
fractions were mechanically mixed and sintered. spark plasma sintering (SPS) method was used
for samples preparation at two different sintered temperatures 1273 K and 1373 K (1000 C and
1100 C). The effect of copper nano-particles on the bulk density, hardness, the coefficient of
thermal expansion (CTE), electrical conductivity, and stress-strain behavior of the produced
composites were studied. The hardness was found to decrease with the increase of the copper
volume fraction in the composites. Conversely, the CTE and electrical conductivity increases
with the increase of the copper volume fraction in the composites. Furthermore, the elastic
modulus were extracted from tensile stress-strain behavior were found to increase with the
increase of the copper volume fraction in the composites. Finally, the fracture surface roughness
was studied using high resolution optical investigations and was noticeably higher with the
increase of the copper volume fraction in the composites. |
