Extrusion Strengthening and Its Numerical Simulation of the CuW80/Cu Solid Contact Material

Abstract

The extrusion strengthening process and mechanism of a CuW80/Cu solid contact material, which was sintered and infiltrated prepared by powder metallurgy, were investigated. Moreover, the numerical simulation of extrusion process of the CuW80/Cu solid contact material was carried out by means of a finite element method. The results show that the hardness of the tail Cu in the CuW80/Cu solid contact material was improved significantly after extrusion, which is greatly dependent on the squeezing location and deformation of the tail Cu. It indicates that the farther from the CuW80/Cu interface or the closer to the surface of sample is, the higher hardness of the tail Cu after extrusion has. By a finite element method, the numerical simulation is successfully used to analyze the stress and strain field distribution as well their changes in extrusion process of the CuW80/Cu solid contact material. The equivalent plastic strain simulation coincides well with the results of micro-hardness tests, which can provide a theoretical basis for extrusion strengthening of the tail Cu in the CuW80 / Cu solid contact material.