Electrical breakdown characteristic of a Ce-doped W-Cu contact material

W-Cu composite powder doped with Ce (1.5 wt.%) was prepared by mechanical alloying (MA), and the W-Cu contact material was fabri-cated by hot pressing sintering in an electrical vacuum furnace. The microstructure, electric conductivity, hardness, and breakdown voltage of the Ce-doped W-Cu alloy were measured and compared with a conventional W-Cu alloy prepared by powder metallurgy. The results show that microstructural refinement and uniformity can improve the breakdown behavior and the electric arc stability of the Ce-doped W-Cu contact material. Also, the Ce-doped W-Cu contact material shows the characteristic of spreading electric arc, which is beneficial to electric arc erosion.