Experimental investigation of the mechanical behaviors created by the addition of nanoparticles to silver-copper alloy used in the jewelry industry

Today, with significant technological developments, there are also transformations and innovations in production methods. In the century we live in, the rapid spread of information and its reach to large masses, together with the strong acceleration and development of technology, creates a market environment that makes challenging competitive conditions. This situation brings the necessity of keeping up with technological developments. One of the greatest scientific and technical developments of the late 20th century was the discovery of nanomaterials and nanotechnology. Studies in this area became widespread and developed in the first years of the 21st century. The fast development of nanotechnology has led to a severe research and development effort in the public and private companies. The physical behavior of materials produced with nanotechnology shows different characteristics when compared to the conduct of materials made with other standard systems. With nanotechnology, the opportunity to create structures with new properties arises. This thesis study investigates the mechanical behavior that may occur in the silver-copper alloy, which is required to produce silver jewelry when silver nanopowder is added to the alloy. First, a silver-copper alloy without silver nanopowder was prepared. Mechanical tests of the prepared samples were carried out. Samples by the standards were prepared for the prepared alloy's tensile, bending, and hardness tests. 99.99 purity, 20 nm scale silver nanopowder was added to the silver-copper alloy in certain proportions (0.5%, 1%, 1.5%, 2%). Mechanical tests were carried out by preparing test samples from the prepared alloys by the standards. The results of the test samples with and without nanopowder addition were compared. According to the results obtained, different maximum tensile strengths, elongation amounts, hardness values, and bending forces were observed according to the nanopowder ratios added to the silver-copper alloy. Numerical analysis was performed using the finite element method. Static analysis was performed using ANSYS Workbench software. In the obtained data, tensile values close to the maximum tensile strengths obtained in the tensile test were found. According to the results of all tests, adding nanopowder at low rates (0.1%, 0.5%, etc.) to the silver-copper alloy provides more efficient results. The addition of large amounts of nanopowder (1% and more) turns the ductile alloy into a brittle material and a brittle structure. This situation makes it challenging to apply some silver jewelry production techniques.