Copper–tungsten composite materials are developed for applications such as electrical contacts, resistance electrodes, and contact tips in welding guns as well as for components requiring higher wear resistance. In addition to the aspect of improved performance, it is scientifically interesting to assess the tribological properties, and therefore the objectives of the present work include, to determine the role of W additions in improving the fretting wear resistance of Cu for electrical applications, to determine the optimum concentration for W additions, and to identify the mechanisms responsible for fretting wear improvements. In addressing these issues, a planned set of fretting wear tests were conducted on powder metallurgically processed Cu–W composites (maximum W content of ) against steel counterbody under varying load (up to 10 N) for 10,000 cycles. It has been observed that at lower loads of 2 N, the coefficient of friction (COF) recorded was for the /steel, whereas it was for a pure Cu/steel couple. Under similar operating conditions with the increase in load, the COF decreases to 0.5 at 10 N load, irrespective of the composition of the Cu–W composite. Furthermore, the incorporation of has reduced the volumetric wear loss by 4–6 folds in comparison to unreinforced Cu. The addition of even higher percentage of W has led to increase its wear resistance by folds. Under the investigated conditions, the wear rate systematically decreases with the increase in load for all the tested Cu–W composites. Based on the topographical observation of worn surfaces, it is observed that wear mechanisms for the Cu and Cu–W composites are tribochemical wear, adhesive wear, and abrasive wear. The incorporation of harder W particles ( or more) help in abrading the steel ball and in forming a dense tribolayer of , which effectively reduces wear rate and hence, increases wear resistance of the Cu–W composite surface in reference to unreinforced Cu.
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October 2009
Research Papers
Enhancement of Wear Resistance of Copper With Tungsten Addition by Powder Metallurgy Route
Poulami Maji,
Poulami Maji
Department of Materials and Metallurgical Engineering,
Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur
, IIT Kanpur, Kanpur 208016, Uttar Pradesh, India
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R. K. Dube,
R. K. Dube
Department of Materials and Metallurgical Engineering,
Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur
, IIT Kanpur, Kanpur 208016, Uttar Pradesh, India
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Bikramjit Basu
Bikramjit Basu
Associate Professor
Department of Materials and Metallurgical Engineering,
e-mail: bikram@iitk.ac.in
Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur
, IIT Kanpur, Kanpur 208016, Uttar Pradesh, India
Search for other works by this author on:
Poulami Maji
Department of Materials and Metallurgical Engineering,
Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur
, IIT Kanpur, Kanpur 208016, Uttar Pradesh, India
R. K. Dube
Department of Materials and Metallurgical Engineering,
Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur
, IIT Kanpur, Kanpur 208016, Uttar Pradesh, India
Bikramjit Basu
Associate Professor
Department of Materials and Metallurgical Engineering,
Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur
, IIT Kanpur, Kanpur 208016, Uttar Pradesh, Indiae-mail: bikram@iitk.ac.in
J. Tribol. Oct 2009, 131(4): 041602 (9 pages)
Published Online: September 23, 2009
Article history
Received:
February 13, 2009
Revised:
July 17, 2009
Published:
September 23, 2009
Citation
Maji, P., Dube, R. K., and Basu, B. (September 23, 2009). "Enhancement of Wear Resistance of Copper With Tungsten Addition by Powder Metallurgy Route." ASME. J. Tribol. October 2009; 131(4): 041602. https://doi.org/10.1115/1.3204776
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