May 2000

Materials Letters 43 2000. 274280 www.elsevier.comrlocatermatlet

Tribological behaviour of SiC particle-reinforced copper matrix composites

S.C. Tjong ) , K.C. Lau
Department of Physics and Materials Science, City Uniersity of Hong Kong, Tat Chee Aenue, Kowloon, Hong Kong, Peoples Republic of China Received 18 June 1999; received in revised form 26 November 1999; accepted 29 November 1999

Abstract Pure copper and its composites reinforced with SiC particles were prepared by hot isostatic pressing HIP. process. The tribological behaviour of copper and composites was studied on a pin-on-disc tester. The pins were slid against a hardened steel disc under dry ambient conditions. In two-body abrasive wear measurements, the disc surface was bonded with a SiC abrasive paper of 240 grit size. The abrasive wear measurements showed that soft copper exhibits an extremely high wear loss. However, additions of SiC particles up to 20 vol.% appeared to improve the abrasive wear resistance of copper significantly under the applied loads of 1555 N. Dry sliding wear tests also indicated that the composite with 20 vol.% SiC exhibits a lower wear loss compared to pure copper. This was due to the reinforcing SiC particles being effective to reduce the extent of wear deformation in the subsurface region during sliding. q 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Wear; Composite, SiC particle; Copper; Hardness; Abrasive

1. Introduction Materials with high electrical and thermal conductivities, and high temperature strength have attracted considerable interest in recent years. Pure copper exhibits high electrical and thermal conductivities but it has some distinct shortcomings such as low hardness, low tensile and creep strengths. The development of Cu-based alloys with high tensile strength and hardness is of primary importance. The mechanical strength of copper can be increased dramatically

Corresponding author. Tel.: q 852-2788-7702; fax: q 8522788-7830. E-mail address: aptjong@cityu.edu.hk S.C. Tjong..

either by age hardening or by introducing dispersoid particles in its matrix. The age-hardenable copper alloys are prone to precipitate coarsening at high temperatures, thereby reducing their strength drastically. In this respect, dispersion-strengthened copper has the ability to retain most of its properties on exposure to high temperatures. Dispersoid particles such as oxides, carbides, borides are insoluble in the copper matrix, and are thermally stable at high temperatures. The dispersion-strengthened copper alloys generally can be classified as the copper-based matrix composites w19x. Cu-matrix composites are promising candidates for applications in electrical sliding contacts such as those in homopolar machine and railway overhead current collection system w11x, where high thermal electricalrthermal conductivity

00167-577Xr00r$ - see front matter q 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved. PII: S 0 1 6 7 - 5 7 7 X 9 9 . 0 0 2 7 3 - 6

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and good wear resistant properties are needed. Among various dispersoids, alumina Al 2 O 3 . particle is commonly used to reinforce copper. The Al 2 O 3 oxide dispersion strengthened copper alloys have been reported to exhibit superior elevated temperature strength, increased hardness and improved creep resistance compared to pure copper w13x. Methods for the production of dispersion-strengthened copper matrix composites involve ingot casting and powder metallurgy PM. processes. The PM route consists of several processes like blending, compacting, and sintering. Blending is one of the crucial processes in PM where the metallic powders are mixed with the ceramic reinforced particles. Good blending produces no agglomeration of both the metallic and ceramic particle powders. To achieve this, several parameters such as particle size, blending speed and duration should be taken into consideration. Conventional melting and casting has distinct limitations due to the poor wettability between ceramic particles and molten copper, leading to agglomeration of dispersoids. Moreover, the difference in the densities and the reinforcements can also cause segregation in the melts w10,11x. Therefore, the PM route is ideal to prepare copper matrix composites because of its efficient dispersion of fine particles w1x. In the case of carbide particle reinforcements, little information is available in literature concerning with the fabrication and properties of SiC particle reinforced Cubased composites. Recently, Pelleg et al. w12x have fabricated SiC fibre reinforced copper matrix composites by means of induction melting and of PM process followed by hot isostatic pressing HIP.. They reported that a chemical reaction occurs at the SiC fibreliquid copper interface during induction melting. On the contrary, a clean interface is observed at the SiCCu interface of composites prepared by HIP process. It is expected that hot isostatically pressed SiCCu composites exhibit good strength, electrical and mechanical properties w12x. Yih and Chung have fabricated Cu composites containing 3354 vol.% SiC whiskers by hot pressing. The whiskers were coated with copper prior to pressing. They reported that the resulting composites exhibit several good properties such as low porosity, high hardness, low electrical resistivity and high thermal conductivity w13x. It is worth-noting that the above-mentioned studies were focused on the fabri-

cation of SiCCu composites where the SiC reinforcements were in the form of fibres and whiskers. Ductile copper generally exhibits poor wear resistance because of its low hardness. Materials removal in the form of wear debris are commonly observed on the copper surface during sliding against a hardened steel counterpart w14x. Wear debris is formed by the delamination cracks developed near the subsurface region of copper due to the localization of plastic strain w14x. Ceramic reinforcements in the form of fibres and particulates are widely incorporated in the soft and ductile materials, like aluminium, to relieve the extent of wear deformation in the subsurface region. Consequently, the wear resistance of Al-based metals is improved considerably w1517x. As mentioned above, Cu-based composites show promise for applications in electrical sliding contacts. It is of practical importance to understand the wear behaviour of Cu-based composites. To the best of our knowledge, no information is available in the literature concerning the wear properties of SiC particle-reinforced Cu-based composites, especially the abrasive wear. In this study, we attempt to fabricate the Cu composites reinforced with SiC particles by means of the HIP process, and to study the abrasive as well as dry sliding wear properties of resulting composites. Particular attention is paid on the abrasive wear behavior of the SiCCu composite. The HIP process consisting of sintering the blended powders under the applications of high pressure and high temperature. This process involves the simultaneous application of a high-pressure usually inert. gas and an elevated temperature in a specially constructed vessel. The pressure applied is isostatic because it is developed with a gas, so that no alteration in component geometry occurs. Under these conditions of heat and pressure, internal pores of the materials are eliminated w18x. Several workers have successfully fabricated the Al-, Fe-, Ni-, and Ti-based MMCs using HIP process w1922x.

2. Experimental and results Copper powder 99.9 percentage pct. purity, Cu, Pb - 2000 ppm, O - 2000 ppm ; 50 m m in diameter. and SiC particles 99 pct purity; 75 m m in diameter. were purchased from Goodfellow Cam-

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Fig. 1. Variation of density with SiC content for the CuSiC composites. The dash line is drawn based on the equation Dc s fDp q1y f . Dm where Dc , Dp and Dm are the density of composite, particle and metal matrix, respectively; and f is the volume fraction of reinforcing particles.

Fig. 2. Fractograph of composite with 20 vol.% SiC after tensile test.

bridge. The composites with 5, 10, 15 and 20 vol.% SiC were fabricated by HIP method. The Cu and SiC powders were mixed mechanically, and the blended powders were filled into copper tubes. The tubes were sealed by welding, and placed into an ABB HIP equipment model QIH-3.. The samples were hot isostatically pressed at 8808C and 100 MPa for 1.5 h. The density of copper composites was determined according to Archimedes method. In this technique, density is determined by measuring the difference between the specimens weight in air and when it was suspended in distilled water at room temperature. The results showed that the density of composites is closed to that predicted from the theoretical calculation Fig. 1., and there is no cavities observed in the composites after hipping. Moreover, Fig. 1 reveals that the density of composites tends to decrease with increasing SiC content. This is due to the density of SiC particles being much smaller than that of copper. The yield strength and percentage
Table 1 Mechanical properties of Cu and SiCCu composites Specimen Cu Cu5 vol.% SiC Cu10 vol.% SiC Cu15 vol.% SiC Cu20 vol.% SiC Yield strength, MPa 154 113 108 98 97

elongation of specimens were determined using an Instron tensile tester model 4206.. Microhardness of both pure copper and composites were determined using an MXT-CX7 Vickers tester under an applied load of 10 g. Microhardness tests for composites were carried out in the matrix phase. The density and mechanical properties of specimens investigated are summarized in Table 1. Apparently, the hardness of copper generally improves considerably with the additions of SiC particles at the expense of its ductility. There is no improvement in the yield strength of composites associated with the SiC additions. This is possibly due to a large sized of SiC particles used, i.e., 75 m m. Fig. 2 shows a typical fractograph of the composite with 20 vol.% SiC after tensile tests. The nature of failure appears to be ductile and intergranular. It is generally known that the yield strength of metal-matrix composites is dependent on the size of particle reinforcement. The yield strength of composites tends to decrease with increasing size of reinforcing particles. On the contrary, the wear resistance of metal-matrix composites is known to im-

Percentage elongation, % 36 19 12 7.9 6.5

Vickers Microhardness, HV 82 " 2 99 " 4 113 " 2 100 " 5 101 " 5

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prove considerably with increasing the size of reinforcing particles. As will be discussed later, the abrasive wear resistance of copper improves dramatically by reinforcing with SiC particles of 75 m m, and the abrasive wear resistance of CuSiC composites increases markedly with increasing SiC content. In this context, a compromise can be reached in the yield strength and wear resistance of CuSiC composites by properly controlling the size of reinforcing particles. Indeed, Tjong and Lau w23x reported that the yield strength of CuTiB 2 composites increases with increasing TiB 2 content due to the size of TiB 2 reinforcing particles is smaller, i.e., 45 m m. Cylindrical pin specimens 5 mm in diameter and 15 mm in length were prepared from the rods produced by HIP. They were used for the abrasive and dry sliding wear measurements. Two-body abrasive wear tests were performed with a pin-on-disc tester Plint Tribology model TE 67.. The pin was loaded against a rotating disc, which carried a bonded abrasive SiC paper of 240 grit ; 60 m m.. The applied normal loads used were 15, 35 and 55 N. The sliding velocity employed was 1 m sy1 . To ensure fresh supply of abrasive particles to the pins, the worn SiC abrasive paper was replaced with the new one for every sliding distance of 20 m. The weight loss of the pin was measured at various intervals in an analytical balance of 0.0001 = g precision. The weight loss was converted to volume loss values. Dry sliding wear measurements were performed on pure copper and Cu20 vol.% SiC composite using the pin-on-disc tester. The pins were slid against a hardened steel disc with a hardness of HRC 60. The disc was rotated at 1 m sy1 , and the normal load varied from 15 to 55 N. The worn surfaces of pins subjected to both abrasive and sliding wear tests were observed in a scanning electron microscope SEM..

Fig. 3. Variation of volume loss with sliding distance for all specimens tested under an applied load of 15 N and a sliding velocity of 1 m sy1 .

3. Discussion We first consider the results of abrasive wear measurements. Fig. 3 shows the variation of volume loss with sliding distance for pure copper and composite specimens tested under an applied load of 15N, and a sliding velocity of 1 m sy1 . Pure copper exhibits an extremely high weight loss during abra-

sive sliding as expected. And an increase in wear volume with increasing sliding distance is observed. Moreover, the addition of only 5 vol.% SiC particle appears to reduce its volume loss remarkably due to the incorporation of SiC particles leads to an increase in the hardness of specimen Table 1.. Further increasing SiC content results in a considerable reduction in volume loss, especially for composite containing 20 vol.% SiC. Fig. 4 shows the variation of abrasive wear resistance with SiC content for the specimens tested at different applied normal loads. The abrasive wear resistance is defined as the inverse of volume loss. Evidently, the abrasive wear resistance of copper composites increases with increasing SiC volume content, particularly at low applied normal load of 15 N. This is because SiC abrasives can penetrate easily to soft copper during sliding, resulting in excessive material removal from the worn surface of pure copper. However, the material removal is reduced markedly in composites due to the SiC reinforcing particles can resist the microcutting action of abrasives. Wear behaviour of materials is a complicated phenomenon due to many variables such as sliding parameters, materials properties, abrasive effects and lubricating conditions, etc., governing it. For twobody abrasive wear, Rabinowicz w24x has attempted to relate the volume loss with the hardness of materials and operational parameters. The volume loss is considered to be resulted from the removal of material chips from the specimen due to the microcutting

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Fig. 4. Variation of abrasive wear resistance with SiC content for all specimens tested under an applied load of 15 N, a sliding velocity of 1 m sy1 , and a sliding distance of 40 m.

sliding. Once the reinforcing SiC particles fracture or loosen from the copper matrix, they can be removed easily from the matrix, resulting in a certain amount of material loss Fig. 5b... Finally, we discuss the dry sliding wear behaviour of pure copper and composite specimens. Fig. 6a. and b. summarize the results of dry sliding wear measurements for pure copper and composite with 20 vol.% SiC. Fig. 6a. clearly indicates that the composite specimen experiences a lower wear loss compared to pure copper. It can be seen from Fig. 6b. that increasing sliding velocity leads to a further reduction in volume wear. In the case of pure copper, the asperities of the counterpart steel disc can deform, penetrate and cut into the copper surface during dry sliding wear. This is because pure copper is much softer than the steel counterpart. This results

of abrasive particles. Mathematically, it is expressed as follows, V s kPLrH

1.

where V is the volume loss, P the applied load, L the sliding distance, H the hardness of specimen and k the wear coefficient. Eq. 1. indicates that the volume loss of a material is inversely proportional to its hardness. Hence, the composites with higher SiC contents exhibit a better wear resistance Fig. 3. due to SiC additions improve the hardness of specimens as indicated in Table 1. Fig. 5a. shows the longitudinal cross-section SEM micrograph of the composite with 20 vol.% SiC after sliding against the disc bonded with SiC abrasive paper under an applied load of 15 N, a sliding velocity of 1 m sy1 , and a sliding distance of 40 m. Some SiC particles are exposed to the worn surface of this composite specimen. The reason for this is explained as follows. When the surface of composite initially comes in contact with SiC abrasive paper, adhesive contact occurs. The SiC abrasive particles with sharp edges then cause microploughing and grooving in the surface of copper matrix. Therefore, materials in the form of chips are removed from the grooves, thereby exposing SiC particles. In this case, the SiC abrasives come in direct contact and slide against with the SiC reinforcing particles. The larger size of SiC reinforcing particles can offer protection to the Cu matrix during

Fig. 5. a. SEM longitudinal cross-section micrograph of the composite with 20 vol.% SiC after abrasion wear tests. The composite was subjected to an applied load of 15 N, a sliding velocity of 1 m sy1 , and a sliding distance of 40 m; b. other region of composite tested under similar conditions.

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Fig. 8. Vickers microhardness depth profiles for pure copper and composite with 20 vol.% SiC after sliding against a hardened disc at an applied load of 35 N, sliding velocity of 1 m sy1 and a sliding distance of 2500 m.

Fig. 6. a. Volume loss vs. sliding distance and b. volume loss vs. applied load for pure copper and composite with 20 vol.% SiC subjected to dry sliding wear tests.

in plastic strain localization in the subsurface region, leading to the formation of delamination cracks Fig.

Fig. 7. SEM plan micrograph showing the formation of delamination surface cracks in copper after sliding against a hardened disc at an applied load of 35 N, sliding velocity of 1 m sy1 and a sliding distance of 2500 m.

7.. The excessive delamination of surface layers of copper leads to a high wear loss, which increases with increasing the sliding distance as shown in Fig. 6a.. Addition of 20 vol.% SiC particles to copper matrix considerably increased the hardness of composite and resulted in a reduction of the extent of plastic deformation of matrix. In this case, the wear loss of the composite is reduced considerably. Fig. 8 shows the microhardrness depth profiles of the worn surfaces of pure copper and composite with 20 vol.% SiC after sliding against a hardened disc at a sliding velocity of 1 m sy1 , an applied normal load of 35 N and a sliding distance of 2500 m. Apparently, pure copper shows the evidence of work-hardening due to plastic strain localization in the subsurface region on sliding against a hardened disc. Thus, the microhardness of subsurface region of pure copper is higher than the underlying material. It is noticed that the microhardness of copper matrix of the composite near the subsurface region is reduced considerably due to the SiC addition. This is because the incorporation of SiC particles to copper is very effective in reducing the extent of strain localization in the subsurface region. More recently, Tjong and Lau w23x also reported that the copper composites reinforced with TiB 2 particles also exhibit superior wear resistance compared to pure copper. And the wear resistance of CuTiB 2 composites is comparable to that of CuSiC composites in this study.

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S.C. Tjong, K.C. Lau r Materials Letters 43 (2000) 274280 w12x J. Pelleg, M. Ruhr, M. Ganor, Mater. Sci. Eng. 212A 1996. 139. w13x P. Yih, D.D.L. Chung, J. Mater. Sci 31 1996. 399. w14x A.T. Alpas, H. Hu, J. Zhang, Wear 162164 1993. 188. w15x J. Zhang, A.T. Alpas, Mater. Sci. Eng. A 161 1993. 273. w16x Z.C. Feng, K.N. Tandon, Scr. Metall. Mater. 32 1995. 523. w17x S.C. Tjong, S.Q. Wu, H.C. Liao, Compos. Sci. Technol. 57 1997. 1551. w18x H.V. Atkinson, B. Rickinson, in: Hot Isostatic Processing, Adam Hilger, New York, 1990, p. 1. w19x S.C. Tjong, K.C. Lau, Compos. Sci. Technol. 59 1999. 2005. w20x E. Pagounis, M. Talvitie, V.K. Lindroos, Compos. Sci. Technol. 56 1996. 1329. w21x Z.P. Xing, J.T. Guo, Y.F. Fan, L.G. Yu, Metall. Mater. Trans. A 28 1997. 1079. w22x J.Q. Jiang, T.S. Lim, Y.J. Kim, B.K. Kim, H.S. Hung, Mater. Sci. Technol. 12 1996. 262. w23x S.C. Tjong, K.C. Lau, Mater. Sci. Eng., in press. w24x E. Rabinowicz, in: Friction and Wear of Materials, Wiley, New York, 1965, pp. 168169.

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