DEMO DAY innowacji 4.0

Copper and copper alloys are now widely used throughout the world due to a set of their performance properties that include their very high electrical conductivity, high thermal conductivity and high corrosion resistance. Some copper alloys can also be subjected to precipitation hardening processes, which allows them to significantly increase their mechanical properties. One example of this type of material is copper-beryllium (Cu-Be) alloys. As the literature analysis indicates, these alloys have a unique combination of strength (Rm as high as 1,400 MPa), electrical and thermal conductivity, as well as hardness and corrosion resistance. Consequently, they have a range of industrial applications that also enable them to be used in harsh environments. As of today, alloys of this type are used in various forms in industries such as telecommunications, automotive, aerospace, medical and oil and gas drilling. Unfortunately, these materials also have a number of disadvantages within which the most important include their toxicity (Beryllium is a metal that can be very harmful when inhaled, as it can damage the lungs and cause pneumonia, among other things) and high manufacturing costs, which significantly limit their widespread use. Accordingly, worldwide research is being conducted to develop a different type of high-strength copper alloy, which includes Cu-Ti alloys that can serve as a substitute for the expensive and toxic Cu-Be and Cu-Be-Co alloys. The project will focus on the development of technologies for the production of copper-titanium alloys in the form of rods obtained by metallurgical synthesis and continuous casting, as well as thermo-plastic processing. It is planned to obtain continuous copper-titanium castings in the range of 0.1-5 wt% Ti containing also micro-additives of elements such as P, Zr, Mg, Ni, Si. The cast rods will be subjected to extensive research on techniques for their processing into wires by hot and cold forming processes combined with heat treatment procedures (supersaturation and artificial aging). The dependence of the effect of Ti content and the indicated micro-additives on the functional properties of wires with different degrees of strengthening will be determined, and favorable heat treatment conditions will be developed to guarantee the expected high functional properties corresponding to mechanical strength at the level of high-quality steel while maintaining the highest possible electrical properties. At the current stage, pilot studies were carried out on the metallurgical side of the project in the area of obtaining castings in the range of 0.5-2 wt% Ti, which were subjected to preliminary characterization from the point of view of mechanical-electrical properties. The study demonstrated the validity of the concepts adopted over the technology of Cu-Ti alloy production and confirmed the possibility of obtaining the expected functional properties. An additional aspect that fits into the closed-loop economy will be the recycling aspect of titanium waste in the form of chips, which is an important problem concerning their management. Based on the conducted research, it was shown that this waste can be successfully used as a component of the Cu-Ti alloys in question. It is considered that the conducted research has reached the third level of technological readiness (TRL III), within which the critical functions and concepts of Cu-Ti alloy manufacturing technology have been confirmed analytically and experimentally. Market and industry analysis shows that the venture has high implementation potential. In addition, the venture conducted a preliminary analysis of the patent purity of the venture, which concerned the process of continuous casting of small-size ingots in the form of Cu-Ti rods with micro-additives dedicated to further processing in thermo-plastic processing. As the analysis showed, the thematic scope of the project does not infringe on the intellectual rights of third parties.