Iron-copper alloy having high thermal conductivity and method for manufacturing the same

Abstract

The present invention provides a high thermal conductivity iron-copper (Fe—Cu) alloy and a method of manufacturing the same. The present invention provides an iron-copper alloy containing 55 to 95 atomic % of iron and 5 to 45 atomic % of copper. The present invention also provides an iron-copper alloy manufacturing method including a first step of preparing a melting furnace; a second step of adding iron and copper to the melting furnace and performing dissolution and molten metal formation so as to contain 55 to 95 atomic % of iron and 5 to 45 atomic % of copper based on the weight of the iron-copper alloy; a third step of stabilizing the molten metal; and a fourth step of pouring the stabilized molten metal into a casting mold and performing casting. The present invention provides an iron-copper alloy that is an iron-based alloy containing iron as a main component and having high thermal conductivity and mechanical properties along with, for example, an electromagnetic-wave shielding property and a soft magnetic property, which can be widely used for metal parts and electronic parts and machine parts.

1 . A method of manufacturing an iron-copper (Fe—Cu) alloy, the method comprising:
 a first step of preparing a melting furnace; 
 a second step of adding iron and copper to the melting furnace and performing dissolution and molten metal formation so as to contain 55 to 95 atomic % of iron and 5 to 45 atomic % of copper based on the weight of the iron-copper alloy; 
 a third step of stabilizing the molten metal; and 
 a fourth step of pouring the stabilized molten metal into a casting mold and performing casting. 
 
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising a fifth step of obtaining iron-copper alloy particles by remelting a casting obtained in the fourth step and then injecting the remelted casting. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the second step comprises performing dissolution of iron and copper while maintaining the melting furnace at a temperature in the range from 1,520° C. to from 1,650° C., and the third step comprises stabilizing the iron-copper molten metal by maintaining the melting furnace at a temperature in the range from 1,450° C. to 1,520° C. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 2  wherein the fifth step comprises:
 remelting the casting obtained in the fourth step in a vacuum melting furnace at a temperature in the range from 1,600° C. to 1,700° C.; and 
 granulating the remelted casting by injecting the remelted casting at a temperature in the range from 1,400° C. to 1,500° C. to obtain iron-copper alloy particles having a particle size of 0.1 μm to 150 μm. 
 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the first step comprises performing surface treatment for forming a porous impurity absorption layer on an inner surface of the melting furnace. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 5 , wherein the performing of the surface treatment comprises coating an absorption layer composition containing an impurity absorbent, a resin and a solvent on the inner surface of the melting furnace, followed by firing, to form the porous impurity absorption layer. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 6 , wherein the impurity absorbent contains one or more selected from zirconium silicate and aluminum (Al). 
     
     
         8 . An iron-copper (Fe—Cu) alloy comprising:
 55 to 95 atomic % of iron; and 
 5 to 45 atomic % of copper. 
 
     
     
         9 . An iron-copper (Fe—Cu) alloy comprising:
 55 to 95 atomic % of iron; and 
 5 to 45 atomic % of copper, 
 wherein iron and copper are dissolved in a melting furnace having a porous impurity absorption layer formed on its inner surface to form an iron-copper molten alloy. 
 
     
     
         10 . The iron-copper (Fe—Cu) alloy of  claim 9 , wherein the porous impurity absorption layer contains one or more selected from zirconium silicate and aluminum (Al). 
     
     
         11 . The iron-copper (Fe—Cu) alloy of  claim 8 , which comprises:
 80.5 to 95 atomic % of iron; and 
 to 19.5 atomic % of copper, 
 wherein the iron-copper alloy has the following properties (a) to (c): 
 (a) thermal conductivity of greater than or equal to 70 W/m·K; 
 (b) tensile strength of greater than or equal to 300 N/mm 2 ; and 
 (c) hardness of greater than or equal to 100 HB. 
 
     
     
         12 . The iron-copper (Fe—Cu) alloy of  claim 8 , which has a spherical particle shape and has a particle size of 0.1 μm to 150 μm. 
     
     
         13 . The iron-copper (Fe—Cu) alloy of  claim 9 , which has a spherical particle shape and has a particle size of 0.1 μm to 150 μm. 
     
     
         14 . The iron-copper (Fe—Cu) alloy of  claim 10 , which has a spherical particle shape and has a particle size of 0.1 μm to 150 μm. 
     
     
         15 . The iron-copper (Fe—Cu) alloy of  claim 11 , which has a spherical particle shape and has a particle size of 0.1 μm to 150 μm.