Investigation of Microstructure and Wear Properties of Precipitates-Strengthened Cu-Ni-Si-Fe Alloy

• Published in: Materials Vol. 16; no. 3; p. 1193
• Main Authors: Peng, Chun-Hao, Hou, Po-Yu, Lin, Woei-Shyang, Shen, Pai-Keng, Huang, Hao-Hsuan, Yeh, Jien-Wei, Yen, Hung-Wei, Huang, Cheng-Yao, Tsai, Che-Wei
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 30.01.2023; MDPI
• Subjects: Age hardening; Aging; Aging (artificial); Alloys; Ambient temperature; Analysis; Beryllium; Beryllium bronzes; Cold; Copper; Copper alloys; Copper base alloys; Crystal structure; Electrical conductivity; Electrical resistivity; Ferrous alloys; Frictional wear; Hardness; Heat conductivity; high Ni/Si ratio; intermetallic; Intermetallic compounds; Investigations; Iron; Mechanical properties; Microstructure; Nickel compounds; Physical properties; Precipitates; Precipitation hardening; Silicon compounds; Sliding friction; sliding wear; Software; Solid solutions; Specialty metals industry; Wear resistance; Taiwan; intermetallic; sliding wear; high Ni/Si ratio; precipitation hardening
• ISSN: 1996-1944; 1996-1944
• DOI: 10.3390/ma16031193

Based on multi-component alloys using precipitation hardening, a Cu-Ni-Si-Fe copper alloy was prepared and studied for hardness, electrical conductivity, and wear resistance. Copper Nickel Silicon (Cu-Ni-Si) intermetallic compounds were observed as precipitates, leading to an increase in mechanical and physical properties. Further, the addition of Fe was discussed in intermetallic compound formation. Moreover, microstructures, age hardening, and dry sliding wear resistances of the present alloy were analyzed and compared with C17200 beryllium copper. The results showed that the present alloy performed extraordinarily, with 314 HV in hardness and 22.2 %IACS in conductivity, which is almost similar to C17200 alloy. Furthermore, the dry sliding wear resistance of the present alloy was 2199.3 (m/MPa·mm ) at an ambient temperature, leading to an improvement of 208% compared with the C17200 alloy.