Copper Hardening with Fine Iron Particles

Abstract

The possibility of obtaining sintered bulk Cu–(5–25% Fe) pseudoalloys with the retained iron phase in the form of α-phase is studied. Pseudoalloys with a relative density of 97.5–98.1% are prepared by sintering a mixture of metal powders reduced from a nanosized mixture of their oxides. The microstructure of the composites represents a copper matrix with α-iron phase inclusions of about 20–200 nm in size, formed by 6.5–16 nm nanocrystallites. At iron content of 5 and 10%, the microstructure of the composites is of matrix type in relation to copper, providing electrical conductivity of 47–52% and promoting higher hardness (to 1380 MPa) due to precipitation hardening of the copper matrix by iron nanoparticles. The microstructure of the composites becomes of matrix-statistical type with increasing iron content