Strengthening of Copper-Nickel Alloy Cu95Ni5 with Titanium Carbide Particles

Strengthening of copper and copper alloys without a significant change in their basic characteristics, such as electrical conductivity, thermal conductivity, deformability, etc., is an important objective in terms of materials science. This can be achieved by evenly distributing micro- or nanoparticles of the chemical compounds having an increased hardness (e.g., intermetallic compounds, oxides, borides, or carbides) in a soft metal matrix. In this study, a procedure has been developed for an in situ synthesis of the Cu–TiC ligature based on the interaction of graphite particles with molten CuxTi. Titanium carbide particles, formed in the liquid metal, do not exceed 5 μm in size and demonstrate good adhesion to the metal matrix (without defects and pores). The applicability of the resulting ligature for strengthening copper-nickel alloys is shown using the Cu95Ni5 system as an example. By introducing a ligature based on 20 vol. % TiC, it became possible to increase the microhardness of as-cast copper-nickel alloy to 98 HV, while the electrical resistivity increased to 0.091 μOhm·m.