Change in Plasticity of Copper under Weak Electrical Potentials

Abstract

This paper examines the effect of weak electrical potentials on samples of commercially pure copper. Energy deposition was conducted in two ways. The first one involved alternating attachment of lead, titanium, chromium, aluminum, nickel and iron plates to copper samples. Within the second procedure a voltage from -3 to 3 V was applied to copper samples. The energy deposition lasted 30 min. When contacts and copper samples were disconnected, micro-hardness was measured and plasticity was calculated. As revealed, plasticity of copper drops in both cases. This value is 0.083 % for samples interacting with iron and nickel. The reaction of copper with chromium and aluminum resulted in 0.18 % and 0.10 % decrease of plasticity, respectively. The most significant change in plasticity was registered as a result of interaction between copper and lead or titanium - 0.21 %. It is found out that plasticity of copper samples drops sharply by 0.33 % as a result of connection with a source of power with a potential 0.2 to 1.5 V (in absolute value). The subsequent increase of voltage from 1.5 to 3.0 V hardly effects on plasticity, keeping it the same as at 1.5 V. A sign of an electrical potential is irrelevant for plasticity.