SPARK PLASMA SINTERING THE COMPOSITES OF BIMODAL COPPER POWDERS
The present work is devoted to analysis of relations between the physical, mechanical properties and microstructure of the material produced by spark-plasma sintering (SPS) of bimodal copper powders. The used starting powders were bimodal mixtures of nano- and micro-sized copper powders, including the pre heat treatment of these powders in a hydrogen atmosphere. As a result, it was studied the influence of sintering parameters on the final density, microstructure and mechanical properties of bimodal copper sintered compacts. It was also produced a comparison of physical and mechanical properties of sintered samples obtained by SPS and by hot pressing (HP) from these bimodal copper powders.