Sintering of Ternary Copper Alloys (Powder Metalurgy) – Electrical and Mechanical Properties Effects

The foreword of Paul Beiss (RWTH Aachen) in the book “Modeling of Powder Die Compac‐ tion”, edited by Peter R. Brewin, Olivier Coube, Pierre Doremus and James H. Tweed (2008, Springer-Verlag London Limited) shows us that the “Die compaction of powders that develop green strength on compaction is the absolutely dominating forming technology for powdered materi‐ als. Areas of application are structural parts, hardmetal and ceramic indexable inserts, pharmaceuti‐ cal tablets, electrical contacts, filters, hard magnets, soft magnetic composites, friction materials and many others. In particular, multi cross-sectional net-shape geometries have been gaining importance continuously, because the ability to deliver complex shapes with higher and higher productivity has contributed to competitive advantages over alternative forming techniques. Since the raw material us‐ age is better than 90% in die compaction, even in areas that could be served by competing manufac‐ turing technologies, die compaction of powders is often the most economical solution. The industries applying this technique have seen tremendous innovation especially in shape capability, reproducibili‐ ty and productivity over the last 15 years that has resulted in high added value, astonishing growth rates and increased employment also in high labor cost countries”.