VARIATIONS IN THE PROPERTIES OF COPPER-ALUMINA NANOCOMPOSITES SYNTHESIZED BY MECHANICAL ALLOYING

Industries use metal-matrix composites all year round, where the alloying of metals plays an important role. Many researchers have seen that an improvement in the alloying of metals possesses a great value in applications. So metal-matrix composites are being investigated for better blending of the particles for the metal constituents. This guides researchers towards the addition of many alloying elements or reinforcements to form superior-quality MMCs with smaller particle sizes. In this regard, the focus of the present work is to reinforce alumina with copper synthesized and blended using a high-energy ball milling. The powders were compressed by cold compaction at a pressure of 174 MPa and sintered at 950 degrees C. Separate green compacts were formed from each of the powders that were milled for different time periods, such as (3, 6, 9, 12, 15) h. X-Ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) were used to determine the particle size of the powders and the dominant processes during the milling, respectively. The wear and corrosion behaviours of each specimen were investigated in accordance with the ASTM G99-17 and ASTM G44-99 standards, respectively. The results clearly show that as the particle sizes of the powders reduce, the wear and corrosion rates decrease. The properties were found to be the best for the compacts formed from powders milled for 12 h.