Abstract
The microstructure evolution and properties of a Cu–Cr–Ag alloy during continuous extrusion and an aging process were studied by Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) and Transmission Electron Microscope (TEM). Owing to strong shear deformation that happened during continuous extrusion with working temperatures of 450 to 480 °C, a larger number of fine grains were obtained. Both face-centered cubic (FCC) and body-centered cubic (BCC) precipitates simultaneously existed in the matrix when aged for 450 °C for 2 h, and the Cr phases with BCC structure had an N–W relationship with the matrix. After continuous extrusion, 60% cold deformation, 875 °C × 1 h solid solution treatment, 60% cold deformation, 450 °C × 2 h aging treatment, and 70% cold deformation, the Cu–Cr–Ag alloy acquired excellent comprehensive properties: tensile strength of 494.4 MPa, yield strength of 487.6 MPa, and electrical conductivity of 91.4% IACS.
Highlights
The Cu–Cr alloy is a typical alloy strengthened through solid solution and aging treatment.Dispersed nanoscale Cr-rich phases precipitate during treatment, which enables the alloy to have high strength, high electrical conductivity, and excellent thermal conductivity
The aging-precipitation behavior of the Cu–Cr alloy, and the effect of related elements on the microstructure and properties of the alloy were systematically studied by many scholars, and some research results were obtained [15,16,17,18,19]
We investigated solid solution treatment, 60% cold deformation, and aging treatments at 450 and 500 °C for different the microstructure evolution and properties of a Cu–Cr–Ag alloy during a continuous-manufacturing times
Summary
The Cu–Cr alloy is a typical alloy strengthened through solid solution and aging treatment. The alloy is widely used to manufacture integrated circuit lead frames [1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11], railway contact wires [2,3,4,5,12], resistance welding electrodes [13], and continuous casting machine crystallizer copper plates [14] It is the focus of R&D efforts in various countries to meet the demand for high-performance copper alloys in high-tech fields such as electricity, metallurgy, aerospace, and atomic energy. To meet the needs for large-length, preheating temperature of the die was 450 to 480 °C, and the rotating speed of the extrusion wheel uniform-performance strip products, Cu–Cr–Ag alloys are prepared by continuous updrawn was 7 r/min. The hardness, strength, and electrical conductivity of the alloy specimens in different states were tested using HXD-1000 digital Vickers hardness tester (Wuxi, China), YHS-229WJ universal stretcher
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