Effects of Y2O3 on the property of copper based contact materials

The copper based electric contact materials with multicomponent substance were obtained by powder metallurgy. The hardness and density of the samples increase with adding proper amount of Y2O3. Adding 1.5 wt.% Y2O3 the hardness of the sample reaches the maxim and the density of sample reaches the maximum by adding 2 wt.% Y2O3. In this paper, the effects of addition of Y2O3 on the performance of copper based contact materials were studied by metallographic microscope, XRD, SEM in details. Moreover, the mechanism of the effects was discussed.