Compression Properties and Electrical Conductivity of In-Situ 20 vol.% Nano-Sized TiCx/Cu Composites with Different Particle Size and Morphology

Dongdong Zhang; Fang Bai; Liping Sun; Yong Wang; Jinguo Wang

doi:10.3390/ma10050499

Compression Properties and Electrical Conductivity of In-Situ 20 vol.% Nano-Sized TiC_x/Cu Composites with Different Particle Size and Morphology

Materials (Basel). 2017 May 4;10(5):499. doi: 10.3390/ma10050499.

Authors

Dongdong Zhang¹, Fang Bai², Liping Sun³, Yong Wang⁴, Jinguo Wang⁵

Affiliations

¹ Key Laboratory of Automobile Materials of Ministry of Education, Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Jilin University, Changchun 130025, China. ddzhang14@mails.jlu.edu.cn.
² Key Laboratory of Automobile Materials of Ministry of Education, Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Jilin University, Changchun 130025, China. baifang14@mails.jlu.edu.cn.
³ Cosco Logistics (Beijing) Materials Co., Ltd., No. 3 Maizidian West Road, Beijing 100016, China. hljsunlp@163.com.
⁴ Key Laboratory of Automobile Materials of Ministry of Education, Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Jilin University, Changchun 130025, China. wyong15@mails.jlu.edu.cn.
⁵ Key Laboratory of Automobile Materials of Ministry of Education, Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Jilin University, Changchun 130025, China. jgwang@jlu.edu.cn.

Abstract

The compression properties and electrical conductivity of in-situ 20 vol.% nano-sized TiC_x/Cu composites fabricated via combustion synthesis and hot press in Cu-Ti-CNTs system at various particles size and morphology were investigated. Cubic-TiC_x/Cu composite had higher ultimate compression strength (σ_UCS), yield strength (σ_0.2), and electric conductivity, compared with those of spherical-TiC_x/Cu composite. The σ_UCS, σ_0.2, and electrical conductivity of cubic-TiC_x/Cu composite increased by 4.37%, 20.7%, and 17.8% compared with those of spherical-TiC_x/Cu composite (526 MPa, 183 MPa, and 55.6% International Annealed Copper Standard, IACS). Spherical-TiC_x/Cu composite with average particle size of ~94 nm exhibited higher ultimate compression strength, yield strength, and electrical conductivity compared with those of spherical-TiC_x/Cu composite with 46 nm in size. The σ_UCS, σ_0.2, and electrical conductivity of spherical-TiC_x/Cu composite with average size of ~94 nm in size increased by 17.8%, 33.9%, and 62.5% compared with those of spherical-TiC_x/Cu composite (417 MPa, 121 MPa, and 40.3% IACS) with particle size of 49 nm, respectively. Cubic-shaped TiC_x particles with sharp corners and edges led to stress/strain localization, which enhanced the compression strength of the composites. The agglomeration of spherical-TiC_x particles with small size led to the compression strength reduction of the composites.

Keywords: compression properties; electrical conductivity; nano-sized TiCx; size and morphology.