The effect of compositional tailoring and sintering temperature on the mechanical and tribological properties of Cu/AlMgB14 composite

• High purity AlMgB14 powder was synthesized successfully.
• Cupper matrix gets strengthened by doping moderate amount of AlMgB14.
• The sintering temperature exerts a significant effect on properties of Cu/AlMgB14.
• Cu/AlMgB14 composite shows a lower dry friction coefficient, as low as 0.2.

Cu/AlMgB14 composites with different AlMgB14 amounts were fabricated by hot press sintering. The influences of the sintering temperature and the AlMgB14 content on the tribological and mechanical properties of the composites were preliminarily investigated. In short, a lower sintering temperature leads to a lower friction coefficient but relatively poor mechanical properties, while the opposite results are shown at higher sintering temperature. Besides, raising the AlMgB14 concentration to some extent can markedly reduce the friction coefficient and the wear rate of the composites. Especially when sintered at lower temperature, the composites with 10 wt% AlMgB14 or above have the lowest friction coefficient of 0.2.