Friction and wear behavior of copper/graphite/Ti2SnC composites fabricated by spark plasma sintering (SPS)

Copper/graphite/Ti2SnC composites were prepared using spark plasma sintering with copper-coated graphite powder, Ti2SnC powder, and copper powder as raw materials. The effect of sintering temperatures (800, 850, 900, and 950 degrees C) on the microstructure, relative density, hardness, resistivity, and tribological properties of the composites was studied in this paper. The results show that Cu and Ti2SnC demonstrate obvious inter-diffusion during sintering and become stronger with an increase in the sintering temperature, and the phase change process of the Cu matrix was in the order: Cu -> Cu5.6Sn -> Cu41Sn11 -> Cu3Sn. The relative density, hardness, friction coefficient, and the wear rate of the composites were the best when the sintering temperature was 900 degrees C, and their values were 97.21%, 67.68 HSD, 0.25, and 3.72 x 10(-6) mm(3) /(N.m), respectively, whereas the resistivity of the composites was the best when the sintering temperature was 950 degrees C, and it was 6.116 x 10(-7) Omega m.

Automated summary

Copper/graphite/Ti2SnC composites were prepared using spark plasma sintering with different sintering temperatures studied for their impact on the microstructure, density, hardness, resistivity, and tribological properties. The results showed that the best properties were obtained at a sintering temperature of 900 degrees C for relative density, hardness, friction coefficient, and wear rate, while the resistivity was best at a sintering temperature of 950 degrees C.