This article presents a comparative analysis of the crucial physical properties of electrically conductive components made of pure copper, produced by various additive manufacturing technologies such as binder jetting (BJ) and direct metal laser sintering (DMLS). The comparison concerned the assessment of critical parameters important from the application point of view, such as: electrical conductivity, hardness, yield point, microstructure and the occurrence of internal material defects. Same-sized components made in a conventional casting and subtractive method (machining) were used as a reference material. Comprehensive tests and the comparison of a wide range of parameters allowed us to determine that among the selected methods, printing using the DMLS technique allowed for obtaining arcing contact with mechanical and electrical parameters very similar to the reference element. Therefore, the obtained results showed the possibility of using the copper elements made by additive manufacturing for the switching and protection devices used in electrification and energy distribution industrial sectors.

This paper presents a wear analysis of tungsten carbide drawing dies in the process of steel wire drawing. The finite element method (FEM) analysis showed a significant correlation between drawing die geometry, single reduction size and drawing speed on the rate of drawing die wear. It has been shown that in steel wire drawing at higher drawing speeds, intense heating of the drawing die occurs due to friction at the wire/drawing die interface, leading to premature wear. Tribological tests on the material for the drawing die cores (94%WC+6%Co) confirmed the gradual abrasion of the steel and carbide sample surfaces with the “products” of abrasion sticking to their surfaces. The increase in temperature increases the coefficient of friction, translating into accelerated wear of the drawing dies.

This study investigated the effect of adding superhard ReB2 to atmospheric plasma sprayed (APS) coatings based on 60 wt% Al2O3 and 40 wt% ZrO2. The amorphous phases commonly present in such coatings are known to impair their performance. ReB2 was introduced as a crystallization nucleus due to its high melting point. ReB2 decomposes in the presence of moisture and oxygen into H3BO3, ReO3, HBO2, and HReO4. ReB2 was encapsulated with Al2O3 via metallothermic synthesis to improve moisture stability, yielding a powder with d90 = 15.1 μm. After milling, it was added at 20 wt% to the Al2O3-ZrO2 feedstock. Agglomeration parameters were optimized, and coatings were deposited under varying APS conditions onto 316L steel substrates with a NiAl bond coat. In the coating with the highest ReB2 content, the identified phases included ReB2 (2.6 wt%), Re (0.8 wt%), α-Al2O3 (30.9 wt%), η-Al2O3 (32.4 wt%), and monoclinic and tetragonal ZrO2. The nanohardness of the coating, measured using a Vickers indenter at 96 mN and calculated via the Oliver–Pharr method, was 9.2 ± 1.0 GPa. High abrasion resistance was obtained for the coating with a higher content of η-Al2O3 (48.7 wt%). The coefficient of friction, determined using a ball-on-disc test with a corundum ball, was 0.798 ± 0.03. After 15 months, the formation of (H3O)(ReO4) was observed, suggesting initial moisture-induced changes. The results confirm that Al2O3-encapsulated ReB2 can enhance phase stability and crystallinity in APS coatings.

This paper presents an analysis of the wear of the surface layer of drawing dies after the steel wire drawing process. It was shown that the working surface of the drawing die is characterized by high roughness combined with the occurrence of numerous scratches and blurs. As a result of high pressures in the deformation zone, premature wear of drawing dies combined with mechanical damage and the sticking of steel on the drawing surfaces can occur during the industrial drawing process. The finite element method analysis showed a significant relationship between the friction coefficient and the rate of drawing die wear. The varying distribution of stresses in the drawing die during the drawing process can contribute to mechanical damage. Longitudinal tensile stresses at the wire’s entrance to the drawing die increase the risk of circumferential cracking of drawing dies.