from the conferences organized by TANGER Ltd.
The Cu-graphene composite combines the high electrical and thermal conductivity of copper with the extreme strength and stiffness of graphene. This composite is thus stronger, more wear-resistant and at the same time highly conductive. It is particularly suitable for new generation electrical conductors, thermal management in electronics, electrical contacts or commutators of electric motors. The addition of graphene significantly affects the plastic deformation of copper. The resulting deformation behavior is often a combination of strengthening and a change in the deformation mechanism. The presented study investigates the deformation behavior of this composite through the simulation of a uniaxial compression test using the finite element method in FORGE software using the Hensel-Spittel rheological model, compiled on the basis of a uniaxial compression test on the Gleeble device. The results indicate maximum flow stress values in the range from 250 MPa to 2130 MPa as the strain rate increases from 0.1 s−1 to 100 s−1. At higher strain rates, the effect of deformation heat plays a significant role, which locally leads to a significant softening of the investigated composite. This effect is all the stronger because at high strain rates the deformation process is practically adiabatic, when during deformation lasting less than a second there is not enough time for the heat generated to be dissipated. The maximum embedded strain then ranges from about 1.3 to 2.0.
Keywords: Cu-graphene, compression test, FEM simulation, FORGE software© This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.