Open Access Research

An experimental investigation on the fabrication of W-Cu composite through hot-press

Mostafa Roosta1*, Hamidreza Baharvandi1 and Hossein Abdizade2

Author Affiliations

1 Malek-Ashtar University of Technology, P.O. Box 13336–95711, Tehran, Iran

2 School of Metallurgy and Materials Engineering, University of Tehran I. R., Tehran, Iran

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International Journal of Industrial Chemistry 2012, 3:10 doi:10.1186/2228-5547-3-10

Published: 2 July 2012

Abstract

In this paper the feasibility of fabricating W-Cu composite by hot-press has been studied and the best parameters for hot-pressing were acquired. W/20 vol%Cu composite was successfully prepared by this process, in which at first the powder of tungsten and copper, containing 20% vol copper were mixed in a ball mill for 3 h at rotation speed of 200 rpm. Then the mixed powders were hot-pressed for 3 h at a compact pressure of 30 MPa and temperatures of 1,250°C, 1,350°C, and 1,450°C. The composites made have been investigated and revealed the making W-Cu composite with good properties included density, hardness, modules of elasticity, flexural strength, and microstructure. Also, the sample made at 1,450°C possesses better properties, and its microstructure showed the tungsten matrix and the copper reinforcement separately; the X-ray diffraction patterns showed that no compound has been formed between W and Cu.

Keywords:
Tungsten-copper; Composite materials; Hot-press