Abstract

In the present work, copper powder (purity - 99.7%, grain size - 63 ?m maximum) was mechanically alloyed with lithium (purity>99%) in a SPEX ball mill. The alloying process was carried out for 15 h under an argon atmosphere using WC containers and stainless steel balls. The alloyed powders were then hot-consolidated by uniaxial hot pressing at different temperatures (300, 400, 500, and 550 °C) for 3 h at a pressure of 90 MPa, again under an argon atmosphere. The compacted samples were then characterized metallurgically, mechanically, and electrically; some of the properties (porosity, hardness, tensile strength, and electrical resistivity) are reported and analyzed in the present paper. The best results were obtained using a consolidation temperature of 400 °C - a condition which led to a microstructure showing low porosity, a hardness significantly higher than the other samples, and a tensile strength very similar to that for OFHC copper compacted in the same manner. The electrical resistivity was found to be small compared with that of other copper alloys used nowadays in large industrial applications. © 2003 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.