Microstructure and mechanical properties characterization of architectured copper aluminum composites manufactured by cold-drawing

Abstract

The present study investigates the mechanical behavior of severely plastic-deformed Cu-Al composite wires with different diameters and heat-treatments. Each composite holds 61 restacked copper-clad aluminum wires. The bimetal composites were cold-worked up to diameters ranging from 1 mm to 3 mm, without any intermediate heat treatment. All the wires contain 61 hexagonal Cu-Al fibers with a continuous copper network extended from the outer surface into the center of the samples. Tensile tests were then performed on the as-drawn and heat treated wires. The latter were treated at 400 °C for 30 min and 6 h. The heat treatments firstly induce recrystallization in both constituents, giving rise to a fine-grained microstructure and secondly prompt the formation of several intermetallics. Without heat treatment after processing, the architectured composites exhibit a ductility value similar to the conventional copper-clad aluminum wires and larger yield stresses compared to them, regardless of the diameter. The intermetallic compounds, forming as a result of heat treatment, affect the yield stress, ductility and strain hardening mechanisms. Finally, the results are discussed in terms of grain size, texture, intermetallics volume fraction and mechanical coupling between the phases.