Effect of W particle size on microstructure and mechanical properties of Cu-10W composites prepared by spark plasma sintering

Abstract

Pure W powders with initial particle sizes of 100 nm, 500 nm, and 1 μm and pure Cu powder were utilized to prepare Cu-10W composites through ball-milling and vacuum spark plasma sintering (SPS) techniques. W particle size was thoroughly studied for its effect on the microstructure and mechanical properties of Cu-10W composites. Results display that, as the W particle size decreases, the average grain size of Cu-10W composites reduces from 0.97 μm to 0.54 μm, and the hardness and tensile strength of samples gradually increase. Specifically, the hardness of the Cu-10W composites with 100 nm W particles reaches 2.002 GPa, and the tensile strength achieves 324 MPa, respectively, which are 14.4% and 70.53% higher than that of Cu-10W composite with 1 μm W particles. Under the synergistic action of fine grain strengthening and dispersion strengthening, the pinning effect of W particles was enhanced, improving the properties of Cu-10W composites. This work can provide a basis for how to select the appropriate W particle size to prepare high-performance Cu-10W composites.