Influence of consolidation parameters on the microstructure and hardness of bulk copper samples made from nanopowders

This paper describes the consolidation of copper powders by the technique of plasma pressure compaction. Microstructural observations and density measurements provide evidence of the presence of residual porosity even after consolidation at 820 °C. Vickerʹs microhardness measurements revealed the sample consolidated at temperatures as high as 820 °C to have the maximum hardness of 0.79 GPa. The influence of processing variables on microstructure, including the presence and distribution of processing-related artifacts, density and microhardness are presented and discussed.