Mechanical, tribological and electrical properties of Cu-CNT composites fabricated by flake powder metallurgy method

• Published in: Archives of Civil and Mechanical Engineering Vol. 19; no. 3; pp. 694 - 706
• Main Authors: Akbarpour, M.R., Alipour, S., Farvizi, M., Kim, H.S.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Elsevier B.V 01.05.2019; Springer London; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Carbon; Carbon nanotube; Civil Engineering; Coefficient of friction; Composite materials; Conductivity; Copper; Deformation wear; Electrical conductivity; Electrical properties; Electrical resistivity; Engineering; Flake powder metallurgy; Flakes; Friction; Graphite; Heat conductivity; Hot pressing; Interfacial bonding; Lubricants & lubrication; Materials science; Mechanical Engineering; Metal matrix composites; Metals; Microhardness; Original Research Article; Oxidation; Plastic deformation; Powder metallurgy; Silicon carbide; Solid lubricants; Spalling; Structural Materials; Tribology; Wear; Wear mechanisms; Wear resistance; Carbon nanotube; Metal matrix composites; Electrical conductivity; Flake powder metallurgy; Wear
• ISSN: 1644-9665; 2083-3318
• DOI: 10.1016/j.acme.2019.02.005

•Self-lubricating Cu-CNT composites were fabricated by flake powder metallurgy.•CNTs play a major role in improving wear properties by forming a CNT-rich film.•Cu- 4vol% CNT composite exhibited the lowest wear and friction.•A correlation was proposed for the calculation of the friction coefficient. Cu-CNT composites were fabricated by a flake powder metallurgy method, and their microhardness, electrical conductivity, frictional and wear properties were investigated. Homogenous distribution of CNTs in fine-grained Cu matrix was obtained using this process. Microhardness increased with the addition of CNT vol% up to 8% to the Cu matrix, while the conductivity decreased to 79.2 IACS %. Results showed that CNTs play a major role in improving wear resistance by forming a CNT-rich film that acts as a solid lubricant layer. In the synthesized composites, Cu- 4vol% CNT composite exhibited the best wear and friction properties. The dominant wear mechanisms for the Cu-CNT composites were plastic deformation, abrasion, and flake formation-spalling. Also, a newly modified correlation was proposed for the theoretical calculation of the friction coefficient of Cu-CNT composites consisting agglomerated CNTs.