Ablation resistance and current-carrying friction performance of WMoCu alloy with different Mo contents

W85Cu15 alloys with different Mo contents of 0, 5, 10 and 15 wt% were fabricated by an infiltration method. The microstructure, comprehensive properties, arc erosion resistance and current-carrying friction properties of WMoCu alloys were studied. The results show that a WMo solid solution has formed between the W phase and the Mo phase, and a clear core-shell structure was found around the W particles in the WMoCu alloy, which improves the interface bonding between Cu and W, thereby enhances the comprehensive properties of the WMoCu alloy. The tensile strength of WMoCu alloy at elevated temperature(600 degrees C) is 23.8 %similar to 57.4 % higher than that of WCu alloy. This is due to the good interfacial bonding between the phases in the WMoCu alloy and the high thermal stability of the WMo transition layer. The addition of the element Mo changes the arc erosion behavior, which is related to the fibrous W/Mo phases in the WMoCu alloy. This improves the arc ablation resistance of the WMoCu alloys, prevents concentrated arc erosion, and leaves no ablation pits and microcracks on the erosion surface. Compared with W85Cu15 alloy, the friction coefficient of WMoCu alloy decreases by 2.4 %similar to 26.1 %, and W70Mo15Cu15 alloy has the lowest wear rate, which is 50 % lower than that of W85Cu15 alloy.