The Extrusion and SPS of Zirconium–Copper Powders and Studies of Selected Mechanical Properties

Zr-2.5Cu and Zr-10Cu powder mixtures were consolidated in the extrusion process and using the spark plasma sintering technique. In these studies, material tests were carried out in the fields of phase composition, microstructure, hardness and tensile strength for Zr-Cu materials at room temperature (RT) and 400 °C. Fractography analysis of materials at room temperature and 400 °C was carried out. The research took into account the anisotropy of the materials obtained in the extrusion process. For the nonequilibrium SPS process, ZrCu(2) and Cu(10)Zr(7) intermetallic compounds formed in the material at sintering temperature. Extruded materials were composed mainly of α-Zr and ZrCu(2). The presence of intermetallic compounds affected the reduction in the strength properties of the tested materials. The highest strength value of 205 MPa was obtained for the extruded Zr-2.5Cu, for which the samples were cut in the direction of extrusion. For materials with 10 wt.% copper, more participation of the intermetallic phase was formed, which lowered the mechanical properties of the obtained materials. In addition to brittle intermetallic phases, the materials were characterized by residual porosity, which also reduced the strength properties.