Electrical breakdown characteristic of a Ce-doped W-Cu contact material

W-Cu composite powder doped with Ce (1.5 wt.%) was prepared by mechanical alloying (MA),and the W-Cu contact material was fabricated by hot pressing sintering in an electrical vacuum furnace.The microstructure,electric conductivity,hardness,and breakdown voltage of the Ce-doped W-Cu alloy were measured and compared with a conventional W-Cu alloy prepared by powder metallurgy.The results show that microstructural refinement and uniformity can improve the breakdown behavior and the electric arc stability of the Ce-doped W-Cu contact material.Also,the Ce-doped W-Cu contact material shows the characteristic of spreading electric arc,which is beneficial to electric arc erosion.