OBTAINING, PROCESSING AND CHARACTERIZATION OF AN ELECTRO-CONDUCTIVE COMPOSITE MATERIAL WITH ALUMINUM MATRIX REINFORCED WITH COPPER WIRES

摘要

Electrical cables for fixed, mobile installations or electrical energy transport lines, represent a significant part of the materials from the electrotechnical industry. At the moment these cables are made out of copper or aluminum. Copper cables are clearly superior to the aluminum ones, with lower electrical resistivity and more convenient mechanic characteristics. But wherever possible, aluminum is preferred, as it is cheaper, lighter and scantier. Through junction at a macroscopic level of the two metals, the authors have obtained an electroconductive Al-Cu composite material, which can enlarge the aluminum usage field in electrotechnics. Al-Cu conductors were obtained, through reversed extrusion, with aluminum matrix reinforced with copper threads, with a percentage up to 20 %. The obtained Al-Cu composite materials have specific mechanic, electric, and structural properties different from those of the component metals and classic Al-Cu alloys. As the researches were made, it resulted that the improving of usage properties for these materials can be realised through convenient choice of the deformation degree, of the quantity and the distribution reinforcement phase in matrix, as well as through applying some later thermal treatments, that can influence favorably the processes which take place in the limit zone between components.