Comparative Study on the Wear Resistance of Friction Stir Processed Pure Copper and Copper-Graphene Composites

Friction Stir Processing (FSP) was employed on pure copper (Cu) at a fixed tool revolution rate of 900 rpm and a varying traverse rate (50 to 200 mm/min) with the aim of reducing the surface wear rate of the Cu. Following FSP, wear behavior, hardness, metallography, and electrical conductivity studied. The grain size of FSP-treated Cu decreased from 8 to 3 mu m; while, FSP-treated Cu-graphene (Cu-Gr) composite showed a significant reduction in grain size from 2.1 to 1.5 mu m. Comparative analysis revealed that the microhardness of FSP-treated copper and copper-graphene composite improved by approximately 45 and 71%, in comparison with pure Cu. The reduction in wear resistance was less pronounced for the FSP-treated Cu-Gr composite than for pure Cu and just FSP Cu. Both cases exhibited a marginal decrease in electrical conductivity 1.83% IACS. This research indicates that FSP has potential to enhance the surface tribological properties of copper without significantly compromising its electrical conductivity.