Effect of rare earth cerium on the microstructure and properties of Cu‐12Sn‐4Ni alloy

Abstract The microstructure and properties of the Cu‐12Sn‐4Ni alloy were analyzed by incorporating varying amounts of the rare earth element cerium. The study compared the alloy‘s microstructure, hardness, strength, friction, and wear. The results showed that adding 0.04 % of rare earth cerium refined the grain size of the Cu‐12Sn‐4Ni alloy from 75 μm to 200 μm to 75 μm to125 μm. The hardness of the alloy increased by 22.78 % to 135.897 HV 0.1 after adding cerium, and the tensile strength of the alloy reached its highest peak at 452.08 MPa, with an elongation of up to 64.735 % after fracture. Additionally, the wear rate of the material decreased by about 38.6 % to 1.61×10 −5 mm 3 /mm. In conclusion, the addition of the rare‐earth element cerium successfully improved the structure and properties of the Cu‐12Sn‐4Ni alloy, leading to enhanced hardness, strength, and wear resistance.