W–Cu composites with submicron- and nanostructures: progress and challenges

By C. Hou, Xiaoyang Song, F. Tang, Yurong Li, L. Cao, Jie Wang, Z. Nie. NPG Asia Materials, 2019

154 citations recorded by the source corpus.

W–Cu composite materials are widely used in civilian industries and aerospace fields owing to their integrated properties of high hardness, wear and arc resistance, electrical and thermal conductivities, and low coefficient of thermal expansion. The recently developed submicron- and nanostructured W–Cu composites exhibit superior performance compared to their conventional coarse-grained counterparts and are expected to further expand applications of this group of materials. This review is focused on recent important progress in the preparation, characterization, and mechanical and physical properties of W–Cu composites with refined structures. We summarize the technologies that are capable of refining component structures and evaluate their advantages and limitations. Furthermore, the effects of component refinement and additives such as alloying elements and dispersed particles on the comprehensive performance of W–Cu composites are demonstrated. At the end of the review, we propose potential research issues and directions worthy of attention for the future development of W–Cu composites. Metal composites that take full advantage of the properties of each component can benefit from manipulation of their microstructures. Strengthened solids composed of tungsten and copper can find wide use in civilian and aerospace fields under extreme conditions. Xiaoyan Song and colleagues from the Beijing University of Technology in China review how researchers are producing denser forms of these composites and maximizing their performance by modifying the microstructures and using various additives. In addition to progress in nanostructure fabrication methods, new findings show that selection of specific elements that segregate at grain- or phase-boundaries has great potential for stabilizing nanostructures at high temperatures. Understanding mechanisms for modulating structures on multiscale and evaluating properties under service conditions will prompt further research and high-tech applications of tungsten-copper composites. Since the first report in 1970s, W–Cu composites have attracted extensive attentions owing to their outstanding integrated properties of high hardness, wear resistance and electrical conductivity and low thermal expansion coefficient. This article reviewed recent important progress in the fields of preparation, microstructural characterization, and mechanical and physical properties of W–Cu composites. Particularly, new technologies for microstructure refinement and strategies to enhance the comprehensive performance were summarized and evaluated. The future promising research issues, which may break though the bottleneck of existing performance level of W–Cu composites and facilitate the development of other refractory/non-ferrous metals based nanocomposites, were proposed.

Subfields: Electronic, Optical and Magnetic Materials, Mechanical Engineering

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/2a8eb82903607fd3529989296ed9830296f1ed1d