Development of rolling textures in Cu–Ni alloys

Abstract

The development of texture during the cold rolling of Cu–12·5Ni and Cu–27Ni (wt-%) alloys has been studied using X-ray analysis and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Pole figures and diffractometer intensity measurements from rolling sections confirm that the texture is of the ‘copper’ type, although the preferred orientation develops more slowly and is consequently less sharp than in the pure metal at equivalent strains. The microstructures were consistent with deformation by slip, no evidence of mechanical twinning being found despite the greater hardness of the alloys compared with copper. However, the presence of nickel in solid solution was found to alter the deformation sequence observed by TEM. Beyond 80% reduction (ε=2·0), the cell structure characteristic of deformed copper, both at low and high strains, was almost entirely replaced by an assembly of small, slightly elongated crystallites whose boundaries often lay at ~±35° to the rolling direction. Long microbands, associated with fine scale rippling in the optical microstructure, appeared after only ~90% reduction (ε=2·5), there being a much reduced tendency for such lamellae to group into transition bands than in copper. Compared with the pure metal, the macroscopic deformation of cupronickels thus proceeds more homogeneously, although larger orientation differences, e.g. of ~10;°, as measured by a precision convergent beam technique, existed between adjacent crystallites, adjacent microbands, and across crystallite/microband boundaries. Possible causes of these differences of behaviour in the alloys are discussed and related to the higher hardness and work hardening rates of Cu–Ni alloys.MST/499