Experimental analysis of the workability of copper matrix composites enhanced with MoS 2 and TiO 2 particles

Abstract This study investigated the workability of copper-based hybrid composites. The copper composites with enhanced mechanical properties were fabricated using powder metallurgy to be reinforced with titanium dioxide (TiO 2 ) and molybdenum disulfide (MoS 2 ). Triaxial stress state conditions were used to evaluate the performance of the copper composites, such as true axial strain and stress, true hoop stress, true mean stress, true effective stress, strain hardening index, strength coefficient, and instantaneous strain hardening from the measurement obtained using cold upset testing. The relationships between various stresses and stress–strain ratios were plotted and analyzed. Results showed that the increased reinforcement contents in the copper matrix enhanced the mechanical properties of the copper composites, especially the true axial, the true hoop, and the true effective stresses. Furthermore, the combination of 5 wt.% of TiO 2 and 4 wt.% of MoS 2 in the copper matrix was identified as the optimum composition for the best workability.