Multi-response optimisation of fabrication of 304L stainless steel/Cu composites with powder metallurgy

In this work, it is aimed to produce the 304L stainless steel/Cu composites by powder metallurgy and investigate the effects of technological parameters on the properties of composites. The response surface methodology has been used to design experiments and develop multi-response optimisation models of the composites. Effects of the technological parameters including the ball-milling time, sintering temperature and 304L stainless steel percent in producing process on the mechanical properties of composites such as conductivity, relative density and Vickers hardness. The response surface methodology relationship between the technological parameters and the mechanical properties of composites was investigated. The results show that the conductivity and the relative density of the composites presented declining trend with 304L percent increasing. The sintering temperature most affects the Vickers hardness. Under the same conditions, the Vickers hardness was found to increase as the sintering temperature increased. The optimal process parameters combination are as follows: sintering temperature was 1100°C, ball-milling time was 5 hours and the 304L stainless steel percent was 15.