Nanostructures and mechanical properties of copper compacts prepared by magnetic pulsed compaction method

A main advantage of magnetic pulsed compaction (MPC) is the ability to reach higher relative density of compacts of metallic nano powders owing to sufficiently high pressure in a very short duration of an order of μs. In this study, the compacts of pure and passivated nano Cu powders synthesized by pulsed wire evaporation (PWE) method, have been prepared by the MPC method. The effects of the compaction temperature and passivation of Cu powders on a microstructural change and mechanical property were investigated. The measured green density of the compacts was higher, more than 95% of theoretical density. The optimally processed compacts showed the fine and homogeneous bulk structure without any grain growth. The pure and passivated Cu compacted at 300 °C exhibited maximum hardness of 2.4 and 2.6 GPa, respectively, that is almost two times higher than that of conventional micro-grained pure copper.