W-Cu Alloy Prepared by Co-Precipitation

Abstract:

A chemical co-precipitation method was used in this study to prepare W-Cu composite oxide powder firstly, and then the nanoscale W-20%Cu composite powder through hydrogen reduction. The W-Cu alloy of ultrafine dispersion structure was obtained by forming and sintering the composite powder. The results show that the W grains have polygonal shape with a particle size of 30 nm ~50 nm after hydrogen reduction. Furthermore, the Cu phase disperses evenly in the W phase to bind some W particles together. The W-20%Cu composite powder prepared by this process showed a good sintering activity with a relative density of 99.7% and a thermal conductivity of 223.1 W?m-1?K-1 when the W-Cu nanoscale composite power was sintered at 1250 ℃. Other performances such as electrical conductivity, bend strength, hardness were also increased greatly if compared with the traditional W-20%Cu products.

Key words:W-Cu alloy; precipitation; nanopowder; thermal conductivity