Studying the Effect of Adding Up To 6wt%Cu on Some Mechanical and Physical Properties of Pure Aluminum

Abstract

Aluminum and its alloys solidify in columnar structure with large grain size which results in deterioration of their surface quality and strength. Aluminum alloys with a wide range of properties are used in engineering structures. Copper has been the most common alloying element almost since the beginning of the aluminum industry, and a variety of alloys in which copper is the major addition were developed. In this work, the influence of pure copper addition to commercially pure aluminum hardness, compression strength and thermal conductivity were studied. Six different Al-Cu alloys with 1,2,3,4,5 and 6%Cu content were prepared and experimentally tested. It was found that adding up to 6wt%Cu led to linear increasing in Brinell hardness, compression strength and slightly increasing in the thermal conductivity of aluminum-copper alloys.