Effects of Precipitation during Dynamic Recrystallization of Copper with Different Oxygen Levels

Abstract

Previous research works assert that the observed increase in hot flow stress of commercially pure copper is attributed to the interactions between solute atoms and dislocations, specifically by interstitial oxygen. This work shows TEM images of the formation of Cu2O precipitates after warm working temperatures that in part help explain the increase of stress during hot compression of 99.9% pure copper. Three commercially pure large-grained coppers with 26, 46 and 62ppm of oxygen were tested at different temperatures (600°C-950°C) and strain rates (0.3s-1- 0.001s-1). At temperatures below 850°C, the stress differences between coppers, tested at same the strain rate, became increasingly higher. A correlation between stress increase and oxygen content was found. Precipitation of nanometric Cu2O did not show any difference in dynamically recrystallized grain size; however hardness tests showed that the final properties were modified. This work discusses the effect precipitation of Cu2O has on the hot flow curve and the final microstructure of hot formed 99.9% pure copper with different oxygen levels.