Effects of Fe additive on properties of Si reinforced copper matrix composites fabricated by vacuum infiltration

摘要

A vacuum infiltration process has been developed to fabricate copper matrix composites reinforced with 50 vol.- percent Si powers and 0-10 wt-percent Fe additive. In this study, the powder compacts were prepared using well mixed Si and Fe powders and were then packed in quartz tubes. Then pure copper was used to infiltrate these compacts. The results show that the wettability, the infiltration rate, the thermal conductivity, and the density are all promoted when the Cu/Si_p composites are added to 5-10 wt-percent Fe. In addition, the coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) of the Fe containing composite is lower than that of the composites without Fe additive. From the X-ray diffraction analysis and the differential thermal analysis, it can be seen that Fe additive also can generate the FeSi_2 compound and reduce the Cu_3Si brittle compound formation in the Cu/Si interface.