The influence of boron addition on properties of copper-zirconium alloys

Abstract

Copper-zirconium alloys with high conductivity were produced using powder metallurgy. Two-steps manufacturing process, containing mechanical alloying followed by hot pressing, was applied in achieving improved mechanical and physical properties of Cu-Zr alloy. In this paper, the influence of boron on Cu-Zr alloys properties was studied on Cu-1Zr (wt.%) and Cu-1.1Zr-0.3B (wt.%) systems. Scanning electron microscopy, laser nanoparticle sizer, computed tomography and X-ray diffraction were employed for observation of changes in the microstructure during production steps. More specifically - variations in size of the Cu particles, powder mixtures? structural parameters, and development of CuZr phase in binary alloy, CuZr phase and ZrB2 particles in ternary alloy were observed. It was shown that presence of boron increases dislocation density in ternary alloy over the mechanical alloying time compared to binary alloy. The results presented in this study show higher hardening effect in Cu-Zr- B alloy compared to Cu-Zr alloy, resulting in stable hardness values during thermomechanical treatment. Further, it can be seen that finely dispersed reinforcing ZrB2 particles in copper matrix does not have significant influence on its conductivity. Moreover, both systems Cu-Zr and Cu-Zr-B exhibit better electrical conductivity after thermomechanical treatment as a result of zirconium reduction in solid solution due to its precipitation.