Research and analysis on application of copper in powder metallurgy

Research and analysis on application of copper in powder metallurgy

In recent years, powder metallurgy scholars pay more and more attention to materials with "nano" and "composite" characteristics, while ignoring the expanding role of basic materials and their processes in the field of powder metallurgy. Copper has played a great role in the field of powder metallurgy and will continue to promote its development. In this paper, the application of copper powder in the field of powder metallurgy and its technical development are described. The development history, characteristics and application of copper are reviewed. This paper supports the view that the application of copper in powder metallurgy will continue to increase, and copper has broad prospects in the field of thermal management materials and traditional powder metallurgy.

The application of copper powder in the field of powder metallurgy and its technical development are described. The development history, characteristics and application of copper are reviewed. The author thinks that the application of copper in powder metallurgy will increase continuously, and it will have broad application prospects in the field of thermal management materials and traditional powder metallurgy.

Application of copper in powder metallurgy

As early as 10000 years ago, copper was discovered and considered to be a unique metal. At first, it was used for jewelry and other decorations. It is made of natural copper blocks or copper bearing ores. The processing is very simple. That is, the original cold processing dates back to 8700 BC. Copper is used to make necklace pendants

Copper has excellent thermal conductivity and conductivity, as well as good corrosion resistance and mechanical properties. Copper is easily worked into complex shapes and filaments. Architects often use its bright red color and eroded verdigris to decorate buildings, ceilings and outdoor facilities.

Copper is easy to be alloyed with other elements, and is widely used to manufacture special-shaped forgings, castings and powder metallurgy products. Alloys formed from copper and nickel have excellent seawater corrosion resistance. Tin can improve the strength and corrosion resistance of copper in solid solution. Zinc and copper alloys, i.e. brass powder, are used for water pipes, locks, valves and fittings. Copper alloys containing nickel, tin, titanium, beryllium and cobalt have the same strength as high-strength steel, and have high conductivity and thermal conductivity. Copper and copper zinc aluminum alloys are commonly used to produce flake gold powder. By adjusting the composition of tin and nickel, specific colors can be produced.

In the field of powder metallurgy, pure copper powder is used to produce electronic and thermal conductive parts. Copper alloys containing tin, zinc, nickel or iron are widely used in automobile, lawn park equipment, tools and electronic industry. Copper powder is mainly used for self-lubricating bearings, as well as iron copper premixing, dialysis and friction material parts in the chemical industry.

The important and distinctive application of copper powder is in the field of powder metallurgy. Materials in this field are not obtained through smelting and casting. For example, dispersion strengthened copper aluminum oxide is used to strengthen and manufacture welding rods (used in automobile and other industrial fields), and tungsten copper and molybdenum copper are used in the thermal management field of electronic components. These materials need to control their porosity. Self lubricating bearings and filters are typical applications in powder metallurgy. These materials need proper porosity control to achieve good lubrication effect with oil content.

Copper powder can be made into electronic and electrical components with complex shapes by metal injection molding process. This product has good conductivity and thermal conductivity. We can use high-purity copper powder to improve the conductivity and thermal conductivity by increasing the final density of the part. The injection molding process can improve the density of copper powder, and the conductivity and thermal conductivity of the product will also be improved accordingly.

Powder metallurgy products

The main use of copper powder is to mix copper and tin powder to make bronze parts. In the early 1920s, the Metal Refining Company (USMR) located in Cartwright Autonomous Region, New Jersey, United States, began to produce electrolytic copper powder. This factory has a small area and a large cathode box. In the peak production period, the powder plant produces about 455 tons of copper powder every month. In the mid-1980s, smelting and electrolytic refining enterprises were forced to close down. Due to the closure of the Cartwright plant, although some enterprises tried to produce electrolytic copper powder, the United States no longer produced electrolytic copper powder products. Today, electrolytic copper powder is produced in Europe, Japan, Russia, India and South Korea.