Advanced Materials Research Submitted: 2015-04-20

ISSN: 1662-8985, Vol. 1128, pp 123-126 Revised: 2015-06-05

doi:10.4028/www.scientific.net/AMR.1128.123 Accepted: 2015-07-14
© 2015 Trans Tech Publications, Switzerland Online: 2015-10-28

A Study on Al2O3/SiC/B4C Reinforced Cu-Sn Matrix Composite by Warm

Compaction Powder Metallurgy
ÖKSÜZ Kerim Emre1,a
1
Cumhuriyet University, Department of Metallurgical & Materials Engineering, 58140, Sivas, Turkey
a
kerimemreoksuz@gmail.com

Keywords: Cu-based composite, warm compaction, sintering, Al2O3, SiC, B4C

Abstract. Increasing density is the best way to increase the performance of powder metallurgy
materials. A conventional powder metallurgy processing can produce copper green compacts with
density less than 8.3g/cm3 (a relative density of 93%). Warm compaction is a simple and
economical forming process to prepare high density powder metallurgy parts or materials. Cu-Sn
matrix composites with %2 weight fractions of reinforcement particles were prepared using warm
compaction and sintering. Micro-structural aspects were observed by an optical microscope.
Density, hardness and wear tests were also performed. Abrasion resistance measurements were used
to study the abrasive behaviors of Cu-Sn matrix and its composites. The effects of reinforcement
and preparation methods on the microstructure and mechanical properties of composites have been
investigated.

Introduction
Linear and circular saws, grinding wheels, wire saw pearls among others, are diamond cutting
tools used in the slabbing, cutting, and polishing of dimension stones, ceramic materials and
nonferrous metals in general [1,2]. Diamond cutting tools are composed of diamond particles
embedded into a metal matrix. Co and its alloys like Fe-Co, Fe-Cu, Co-bronze and Fe-bronze is
used as metals in general. They are produced by powder metallurgy techniques either hot pressing
or cold pressing [3]. However, the selection of bonding metal in the diamond composites also
depends on the abrasiveness and the hardness of the material to be cut [4]. Barbosa et al. [5]
produced Fe-Cu-Co matrix diamond tools. They proved that the most suitable matrix compound
was Fe- 60% Cu-20% Co. Meszaros and Vadasdi [6], produced Co-2% WC matrix diamond cutting
tools. Oliveira et al. [7], used Fe-Cu-SiC powders as a matrix for diamond cutting tools. Öksüz et
al. [8] studied that diamond reinforced Fe-Co-bronze metal matrix composites were produced at
different temperatures by hot pressing method; microstructure and mechanical properties were
investigated [9]. In recent years, boron carbide (B4C) has become an important material for
advanced technology because of its high melting point, high hardness, low density, high chemical
stability and excellent mechanical properties [10-13].
The aim of this study is to improve the mechanical properties of MMCs by changing
reinforcement elements and also to investigate the wear behavior of composite produced by warm
compaction PM.

Materials and Production Method

Commercial bronze (85 wt. % Cu + 15 wt. % Sn, 45 µm), SiC, Al2O3 and B4C powders (25 µm)
were bought from Alfa Aesar Company. The powders were weighed and manually blended
according to the compositions bronze and wt. %2 B4C - wt. %2 SiC - wt. %2 Al2O3 mixtures were
blended during 45 min. in a T2F turbula mixture to obtain good homogeneity. In the production
method, the mixture per composition was put in carbon moulds 6 mm x 5 mm dimension were cold
compacted, and then hot zone was evacuated to remove the air from the chamber atmosphere and
specimens were warm-pressed in carbon moulds for 30 min at 250°C with an applied pressure of
200 bar on a semi-automatic hot pressing machine. Fig. 1 illustrates sintering graphs sintered using
hot press machine.

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124 Advanced Technologies of Materials Processing

Fig. 1. Schematic representation of the warm press sintering cycle applied to the composite
specimens

After warm compacted, samples were heated up to sintering temperature of 850 oC for 30 min.
under argon (Ar) atmosphere. Total sintering time (hot press and heating) was held 60 min. The
relative density, hardness and wear behavior of the segments were determined. Wear test was
performed under varied loads such as; 10, 25 and 40 N and at a constant speed of 1 m/s and a
constant sliding distance of 60 m with 180 mesh SiC paper for each composite sample. Samples for
metallographic examination were prepared using standard polishing techniques. The microstructure
of the composite was examined using by an optical microscope. After grinding and polishing, the
composite samples were etched with solution of 5 g FeCl3 + 5 ml HCL in 100 ml distilled water.

Results and Discussion

Density Measurement and Hardness
Theoretical, sintered, relative density and hardness of the wt. %2 B4C - SiC - Al2O3 reinforced
bronze based composites, results are shown in Table 1. Relative density decreased as the amount of
added reinforcement particle increases. This is due to the fact that the increased rate of added
Al2O3 - SiC - B4C ceramic particles has an adverse effect on sinterability. Hardness is the most
used parameter to determine the quality of diamond impregnated composite matrix for stone
cutting. Hardness of the composites increased with increasing reinforcement particle content. This
may be explained by the rule of mixture, applied to composite materials [14,15,16]. Maximum
hardness values were measured from Cu-Sn- wt. 2 % B4C composition.

Table 1. The density and hardness of the composites

Samples Theoretical Sintered density Relative Hardness
3 3
density (g/cm ) (g/cm ) density (%) (HRB)(100kgf)
Cu-Sn 8.66 8.50 98.1 68.2
Cu-Sn - wt.%2 Al2O3 8.56 8.02 94.0 71.8
Cu-Sn - wt.%2 SiC 8.54 7.90 92.5 87.6
Cu-Sn - wt.%2 B4C 8.53 7.71 90.1 96.1

Wear Resistance
Fig. 2 presents results of wear test in terms of weight loss of the composite samples. For the
composite sample with Al2O3, SiC and B4C, one can observe an increase in weight loss with
increasing applied load for each sample.
 Advanced Materials Research Vol. 1128 125

Fig. 2. Weight loss presented by composites after wear tests

It can be seen that the smallest weight loss value found is related to samples with wt. 2% B4C
than the composite sample with Al2O3 and SiC. B4C contributes to the wear resistance of the
composite due to high hardness of B4C material.

Microstructural Analyses
The surface microstructures of the samples were obtained through a Nikon MA200 optical
microscope equipped with the Clemex vision Image Analyser. Fig. 3 shows the microstructural
aspects of the Cu-Sn and 2 wt. % Al2O3- 2 wt. % SiC - 2 wt. % B4C sintered composites.

Fig. 3. Microstructural aspects of the composites (a) Cu-Sn matrix, (b) 2 wt. % Al2O3, (c) 2 wt. %
SiC (d) 2 wt. % B4C sintered composites
Microstructure images (a), (b), (c) and (d) in Figure 3 reveal that homogenous morphology and
different grain size distribution were obtained for all compositions after sintering. The
126 Advanced Technologies of Materials Processing

reinforcement particles were relatively homogeneously distributed throughout the microstructure

and surrounded by Cu-Sn matrix. In micrographs, light gray areas indicate Cu-Sn matrix and dark
gray and cornered shapes indicate the reinforcement elements. (Al2O3, SiC, B4C) Reinforcement
particles spread in the matrix of Cu-Sn to form a network (Fig. 3b, c and d).

Conclusions
The effects of reinforcement particles on the microstructure and mechanical properties of CuSn
based composites by warm pressing were investigated. Microstructure observation demonstrates a
relative homogenous distribution in bronze of reinforcement particulates. Aluminium oxide, silicon
carbide and boron carbide particles formed at the grain boundary of bronze, and were surrounded by
Cu-Sn. Relative density of composites decreased as the amount of added reinforcement elements
increased. The addition of 2 wt. % B4C promoted an increase in hardness as % 9.75 and % 33.95
when compared to samples with 2 wt. % Al2O3 and SiC respectively. Disperse B4C particles
addition, increased hardness in % 41.02 compared to Cu-Sn matrix. The weight loss of composite
samples (Cu-Sn-2 wt. % B4C) under 40 N applied load was presented the highest wear resistance
and hardness thus justifying its choice for being used as the bonding matrix design for the cutting
tools and abrasives.

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Advanced Technologies of Materials Processing
10.4028/www.scientific.net/AMR.1128

A Study on Al2O3/SiC/B4C Reinforced Cu-Sn Matrix Composite by Warm Compaction Powder

Metallurgy
10.4028/www.scientific.net/AMR.1128.123

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