Microstructure, mechanical properties, and fracture behavior of multi-core through steel wire reinforced brass composite rod produced by a solid-liquid continuous casting and composite technique

Abstract

A multi-core through steel wire reinforced brass composite rod was fabricated using a solid-liquid continuous casting and composite technique. Microstructure evolution, interface, mechanical properties, and deformation behavior of the composite rod during the room temperature tensile process were studied. The results showed that the steel wires in the composite rod were distributed in a regular hexagonal shape, forming a brass/steel interface with good metallurgical bonding. After annealing at 700 °C for 1h, the tensile strength of the composite rod was 376 MPa, and the elongation to failure was 46.3 %, whose tensile strength was 21 % higher than that of the brass cladding single steel wire composite rod with the same steel percentage. During uniform tensile deformation, each steel wire in the composite rod experienced a consistent and uniform tensile stress. When the tensile deformation became unstable, the central steel wire experienced the highest level of tensile stress, initially leading to the occurrence of necking and fracture. As the tensile strain increased, the brass grains underwent twisting and rotation. In addition, the steel grains were elongated along the tension direction, and the number of low-angle boundaries increased. The straight brass/steel interface was transformed into a wavy pattern with a good bonding interface, indicating that the composite rod exhibited excellent synergetic deformation capability. The mixing laws based on hybrid effects have good applicability to multi-core through steel wire reinforced brass composite rod, with a strength error of less than 7 %.