The Effect of Micro and Nano Size TiC Additions on Some Properties of Copper Fabricated by Powder Metallurgy

The goal of this study is to evaluate how micro TiC (1-4.5) wt% and nano TiC (0.25-1) wt% additions effects on the properties of copper base composites made by powder metallurgy. Powder mixes were ball milled for 7 hours at 170 rpm in a 304SS container. Uniaxial pressing at 700 MPa was performed to prepare the samples, and then they are sintered at 850°C for 2 hours in an electric resistance furnace in an argon atmosphere. The results revealed that as the micro and nano TiC content increases, the density of the sintered copper decreases. Generally, the micro size TiC addition tends to increase the porosity of sintered copper samples, while the increase of the porosity was in lower values particularly when the nano TiC addition was greater than 0.25 wt%. The increase in micro TiC addition is reflected in the increase of the micro-hardness of sintered copper, while the best micro-hardness value was measured for the sintered copper sample with the lowest nano TiC addition that was 0.25 wt%. The microstructure of the pure copper sintered compacts and its composites with micro and nano-size TiC additions were analyzed and observed with aid of XRD, optical microscope and FESEM-Mapping, techniques.