High temperature tribological properties of additively manufactured WC reinforced CuAl7–W composites

A wear-resistant composite material based on aluminum bronze with an addition of tungsten and tungsten carbide particles is developed using a combined wire- and powder-feed additive electron beam technology. The wear tests conducted under dry sliding conditions at room and elevated temperatures demonstrate a significant increase in wear resistance without any significant changes in the friction coefficient. Specifically, the composite with a particle content of 10 % exhibits an average wear rate 1.6 times lower compared to that of pure aluminum bronze, while the composite with a particle content of 20 % shows a 3.9-times wear rate reduction. The wear of the steel counterfaces during the composite sliding remains close to the values observed in a similar process for pure bronze.