Tribological properties of copper-graphene (CuG) composite fabricated by accumulative roll bonding

Abstract

The main aim of this study is to clarify the effect of the number of accumulative roll bonding (ARB) cycles on the tribological properties of the copper-graphene composite. To conduct the wear test, the pin-on-disk method was utilized at an average normal force of 20 N and a sliding distance of 1000 m. Field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM) was used to investigate the worn surface resulting from the wear test and determine the wear mechanism. The results showed that the wear rate increased in the rolled copper sheet and copper-graphene composite as a result of increasing the number of cycles. The increase in wear rate and weight reduction in the composite were less than rolled copper sheet. SEM micrography and EDS analysis showed that adhesive, oxidation, and delamination wear mechanisms were active on the wear surfaces. With increasing the ARB cycles, the dominant wear mechanisms in the copper-graphene composite and copper sheet were delamination, which was associated with severe galling and cracking in high cycles and more accentuated in copper sheet samples.

Keywords

• Tribological properties
• ARB
• Copper-graphene composite
• Wear behavior