EFFECT OF WC REINFORCED ON MICROSTRUCTURE AND MECHANICAL PROPERTIES OF CUALMN ALLOYS PRODUCED BY HOT PRESSING METHOD

Abstract

In this study, the effect of WC reinforcing particles on the microstructure and mechanical properties of CuAlMn and CuAlMn-WC alloy produced by powder metallurgy method was investigated by adding 5 %, 10 % and 15 % by volume WC to CuAlMn alloy. Cu, Al, Mn and WC powders of approximately 99.9 % purity with a grain size of 325 mesh were used in the production of the alloys. The samples were produced by hot pressing method at 900 ℃ temperatures under 35 MPa pressure for 6 minutes. Microstructure, phase formation, hardness and corrosion properties of the samples were investigated in detail. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) was used for microstructure analysis and X-ray diffractogram (XRD) was used for phase formation detection. The hardness measurements of the samples were measured by microhardness measuring device. The corrosion tests were performed potentiodynamic polarization curves of the composite materials in 3.5% NaCl solution. As a result, it has been determined that the mechanical properties of WC reinforcing particles added to CuAlMn matrix increase with increasing volume ratio.