Research on Alloying Elements’ Influence on CuETP-Grade Copper’s Mechanical and Electrical Properties

Abstract

The continuous industrial development that occurs worldwide generates the need to develop new materials with increasingly higher functional properties. This need also applies to the basic material for electricity purposes, which is copper. In this article, we carry out studies on the influence of various alloying elements such as Mg, In, Si, Nb, Hf, Sb, Ni, Al, Fe, Zr, Cr, Zn, P, Ag, Sc, Pb, Sn, Co, Ti, Mn, Te and Bi on the electrical and mechanical properties of ETP-grade copper. The research involves producing copper alloys using the gravity die casting method with alloy additions of 0.1 wt.%, 0.3 wt.% and 0.5 wt.%. All resulting materials are cold-worked to produce wires, which are subsequently homogenized and annealed. The materials produced in this manner undergo testing to determine their specific electrical conductivity, tensile strength, yield strength, elongation and Vickers hardness (HV10 scale).

Keywords

• copper
• copper alloys
• mechanical properties
• electrical properties
• alloying elements