Abstract：The process of mechanical milling for synthesis of Cu matrix composite powders reinforced with ultrafine WC and nano-sized Al2O3 particles was experimentally investigated. The evolution of the WC/Al2O3/Cu powder morphology, the distribution of the reinforcing WC and Al2O3 phases, and the grain size of the Cu matrix, due to mechanical milling, were characterized by XRD, SEM, and EDS analysis. The compaction behavior of the composite powders was characterized by room-temperature compaction tests. The results show that, by milling for 100 min with a rotation speed of 300 r/min and a ball to powder mass ratio of 10:1, Cu-based composite powders with uniformly distributed ultrafine WC and nano-sized Al2O3 reinforcing particles and an average size of about 0.4 μm for Cu crystallite grains can be obtained. In addition, the mechanically synthesized WC/Al2O3/Cu composite powders possess good compaction formability, and the compaction characteristics can be depicted by the well-known Huang’s double-logarithmic compaction equation.
2019, Vol. 29 
