Fabrication of Ti3AlC2/Cu composites via vacuum infiltration and their tribological properties

Titanium dihydride powder, aluminum powder, and carbon powder were selected as raw materials and uniformly mixed in an atomic ratio of 3:1.2:2. To the mixed powder, 20 wt% stearic acid was added, and Ti₃AlC₂ porous ceramics were prepared by vacuum sintering using the powder metallurgy method. Ti₃AlC₂/Cu composite materials were fabricated using porous Ti₃AlC₂ ceramics as the matrix and copper (Cu) as an infiltrant, with infiltration coefficient of Ti₃AlC₂ to Cu incrementally increasing from 1:1 to 1:2 using vacuum infiltration. The phase composition, surface morphology, elemental distribution, and microstructure of the composite materials were analyzed using testing methods such as X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy-dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), and metallographic microscopy. The differences in tribological properties of composite materials with gradually increasing infiltration coefficient of Ti₃AlC₂ to Cu from 1:1 to 1:2 were examined, along with the friction and wear mechanisms of the composite materials during the friction process. The results revealed that under loads of 5 N, 10 N, 15 N, and 20 N, the friction coefficient of the composite material exhibited a characteristic trend of first decreasing and then increasing with rising copper phase content. With a load of 20 N and an infiltration coefficient of Ti₃AlC₂ to Cu of 1:1.5, the composite material exhibits optimal wear resistance, characterized by a coefficient of friction of 0.21 ± 0.01 and a wear volume of (2.25 ± 0.12) × 10⁻⁵ mm³ m⁻¹.