Characterization and Properties of Copper and Carbon Powders Mixture

Powder metallurgy (P/M) is one of a metal fabrication technique which involves
three main stages, i.e. mixing, compaction and sintering. The P/M technique allows
the blending or mixing of additives (carbon) to the base powder (copper) prior to
compacting and sintering of parts. The additives will enhance certain property of a
metal. The objective of this project is to study the homogeneity of the mixture, the
compressibility of the mixture, and the properties of the sintered mixture (copper and
carbon). Experiment will be conducted to analyze the characterization and properties
of the new metal produce. The copper and graphite powder are used to produce this
mixture. The graphite powders have been grind using mortar grinder to become
smaller particles. The copper and the graphite powder have been mixed based on
weight fraction (98.5wt% Copper and 1.5wt% Carbon). It is compacted using
autoPallet press machine and sintered by using furnace. Microscopic analyses using
SEM have been done on the powder, mixing mixture, compacted pallet and also
sintered pallet. The powder mixture was found homogeneous. The highest densities
of green and sintered were 6.66 g/cm³ and 7.28 g/cm³ respectively. The highest
hardness of the Cu – C mixture was 27.5 HV.