The hardness and wear behavior properties of two C 18000 copper alloys with variations in Ni, Si, and Cr concentrations, both\r\nwithin the range of C18000 chemical analysis standard, were studied after the alloy samples had been prepared by melting and\r\ncasting in sand molds and then heat-treated in solution using two-stage aging for different heating time periods. The results\r\nobtained from sample sets of the aforementioned two alloys, C0 and C1, show that the alloy C1, with slightly higher Si and Ni\r\nand lower Cr concentrations than the alloy C0, produced significantly higher hardness values and wear resistance than the alloy\r\nC0. Optical and electron microscopy microstructure studies of representative samples revealed a copper matrix containing nickel\r\nand silicon in solution and precipitates of chromium and nickel silicides. By studying the wear surfaces and debris of the former\r\nsamples with electron microscopy, different types of wear mechanisms including adhesive, abrasive, oxidation, and repeated-cycle\r\ndeformation were found. The wear behavior was expressed as mass weight loss, which correspondingly shows a typical inverse\r\nrelationship with the hardness values for both the C0 and C1 alloy groups.
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