Comparing of Commercial and Cemented Cu-SiC Composites

SiC with 30 μm particle size reinforced copper composites have been fabricated by powder metallurgy method and sintered at 700C for 2 h in open atmosphere. Copper powder was produced by cementation method and obtained as commercial for comparing. Cemented and commercial copper powders were reinforced with SiC having 30 μm particle size at ratios of 0, 1, 2, 3, and 5 wt% for improving mechanical properties of copper without decreasing the electrical conductivity. The presence of Cu and SiC which are dominant components in the sintered composites were confirmed by X-ray diffraction analyses technique. Scanning electron microscope showed that SiC particles are distributed homogeneously in the copper matrix. The relative densities of Cu and Cu-SiC composites sintered at 700C are ranged from 98.0% to 96.2% for commercial Cu-SiC composites, 97.55 to 95.0% for cemented Cu-SiC composites, microhardness of composites ranged from 133 to 277 HV for commercial Cu-SiC composites and 127 to 229 HV for cemented Cu-SiC composites, and the electrical conductivity of composites changed between 95.6%IACS and 77.2%IACS for commercial Cu-SiC composites, 91.7%IACS and 69%IACS for cemented Cu-SiC composites. It was observed that there is a good agreement between cemented Cu-SiC and commercial Cu-SiC composites.