IMPROVED P M SILVER-ZINC OXIDE ELECTRICAL CONTACTS/

Electrical contact grade Ag-ZnO composite powders have been produced b y three processing routes: conventional mixing/blending of silver and zinc oxide powder particles; coprecipitation; and mechanical alloying, The powders were characterized in terms of apparent density, tap dens ity, flow rate, particle size, size distribution and also phase analys is by x-ray diffraction. They were then pressed sintered repressed and hot-pressed to near theoretical density, Sintered density, hardness, electrical conductivity and microstructure of the sintered compacts we 've assessed The mechanically alloyed compacts were also subjected to electrical performance evaluation via International Electrotechnical C ommission's Standard IEC 947-4-1. Mechanical Alloying has been found t o result in on excellent combination of physical microstructural and e lectrical contact properties.