Influence of carbon nanotubes and dispersions of SiC on the physical and mechanical properties of pure copper and copper-nickel alloy

Abstract

This paper investigates the physical and mechanical properties of copper-nickel alloy(at 50 wt.%–50 wt.%) and pure copper, mixed with various types of reinforcement materials such as carbon nanotubes (0.5 wt.%–2 wt.%) as nanoparticles, silicon carbide (1 wt.%–4 wt.%) as microparticles. The acquired composite specimens characteristics were estimated such as microstructure, density, electrical and thermal conductivity, hardness, and compression stress properties to determine the suitable reinforcement percentage that has the best physical and mechanical properties with different main matrix material whether copper-nickel mechanical alloying or pure copper powder. The micron-sized silicon carbide and nanosized carbon nanotubes were added to improve the mechanical and physical properties of the composite. The electrical and thermal conductivity of pure copper alloy enhanced compared with the copper-nickel alloy matrix material. The hardness and compression yield stress of both pure copper and copper-nickel composites have enhancement values and for copper-nickel base composites hardness and compression yield stress have enhanced with the most positive enhancement values to examined an optimum percentage of reinforcing material.