Hostname: page-component-5b777bbd6c-gcwzt Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-06-21T15:05:36.369Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Microstructure evolution and enhanced properties of Cu–Cr–Zr alloys through synergistic effects of alloying, heat treatment and low-energy cyclic impact

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 August 2020

Fanglong Yan ,
Wenge Chen ,
Pei Feng ,
Longlong Dong ,
Tao Yang ,
Shuxin Ren  and
Yongqing Fu
Fanglong Yan
Affiliation:
School of Materials Science and Engineering, Xi'an University of Technology, Xi'an, Shaanxi710048, China
Wenge Chen*
Affiliation:
School of Materials Science and Engineering, Xi'an University of Technology, Xi'an, Shaanxi710048, China
Pei Feng
Affiliation:
School of Materials Science and Engineering, Xi'an University of Technology, Xi'an, Shaanxi710048, China
Longlong Dong
Affiliation:
Advanced Materials Research Central, Northwest Institute for Nonferrous Metal Research, Xi'an 710016, China
Tao Yang
Affiliation:
School of Materials Science and Engineering, Xi'an University of Technology, Xi'an, Shaanxi710048, China
Shuxin Ren
Affiliation:
School of Materials Science and Engineering, Xi'an University of Technology, Xi'an, Shaanxi710048, China
Yongqing Fu*
Affiliation:
Faculty of Engineering and Environment, Northumbria University, Newcastle upon TyneNE1.8ST, UK
*
a)Address all correspondence to these authors. e-mail: wgchen001@263.net
b)e-mail: richard.fu@northumbria.ac.uk
Get access

Abstract

In this paper, CuCr–Zr alloys prepared by vacuum melting with adding La and Ni elementswere heat-treated and aged, followed by plastic deformation using low-energy cyclic impact tests, to simultaneously improve their mechanical and electrical properties. Results showed that the grain size of the casted Cu–Cr–Zr alloys was significantly reduced after the solid-solution aging and plastic deformation process. There were a lot of dispersed Cr and Cu5Zr precipitates formed in the alloys, and the numbers of dislocations were significantly increased. Accordingly, the hardness was increased from 78 to 232 HV, and the tensile strength was increased from 225 to 691 MPa. Electrical conductivity has not been significantly affected after these processes. The enhancement of overall performance is mainly attributed to the combined effects of solid-solution hardening, fine grain hardening, and precipitation/dislocation strengthening.

Keywords

Cu–Cr–Zr alloypropertieslow-energy cyclic impactmicrostructuremicro-alloyingsolution and aging
Type
Article
Information
Journal of Materials Research , Volume 35 , Issue 20 , 28 October 2020 , pp. 2746 - 2755
Check for updates
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 2020

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Article purchase

Temporarily unavailable

References

Kermajani, M., Raygan, S., Hanayi, K., and Ghaffari, H.: Influence of thermomechanical treatment on microstructure and properties of electroslag remelted Cu–Cr–Zr alloy. Mater. Des. 51, 688–694 (2013).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kalinin, G.M., Ivanov, A.D., Obushev, A.N., Rodchenkov, B.S., Rodin, M.E., and Strebkov, Y.S.: Ageing effect on the properties of CuCrZr alloy used for the ITER HHF components. J. Nucl. Mater. 367, 920–924 (2007).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Purcek, G., Yanar, H., Saray, O., Karaman, I., and Maier, H.J.: Effect of precipitation on mechanical and wear properties of ultrafine-grained Cu–Cr–Zr alloy. Wear 311, 149–158 (2014).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mishnev, R., Shakhova, I., Belyakov, A., and Kaibyshev, R.: Deformation microstructures, strengthening mechanisms, and electrical conductivity in a Cu–Cr–Zr alloy. Mater. Sci. Eng. A 629, 29–40 (2015).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lin, G., Wang, Z.D., Zhang, M., Zhang, H., and Zhao, M.: Heat treatment method for making high strength and conductivity Cu–Cr–Zr alloy. Mater. Sci. Technol. 27, 966–969 (2011).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Watanabe, C., Monzen, R., and Tazaki, K.: Mechanical properties of Cu–Cr system alloys with and without Zr and Ag. J. Mater. Sci. 43, 813–819 (2007).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bi, L.M., Liu, P., Chen, X.H., Liu, X.K., Li, W., and Ma, F.C.: Analysis of phase in Cu–15%Cr–0.24%Zr alloy. T. Nonferr. Metal. Soc. 23, 1342–1348 (2013).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mu, S.G., Guo, F.A., Tang, Y.Q., Cao, X.M., and Tang, M.T.: Study on microstructure and properties of aged Cu–Cr–Zr–Mg–RE alloy. Mater. Sci. Eng. A 475, 235–240 (2008).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Li, H.Q., Xie, S.S., Mi, X.J., Liu, Y., Wu, P.Y., and Cheng, L.: Influence of cerium and yttrium on Cu-Cr-Zr alloys. J. Rare Earths 24, 367–371 (2006).Google Scholar
Da, J.Y., Mu, S.G., Wang, Y., Yang, X., and Li, J.: Influence of La and Ce on microstructure and properties of Cu-Cr-Zr alloy. Adv. Mater. Res. 295, 1168–1174 (2011).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Shuai, G.W., Fang, P., and Liu, Z.M.: Effects of Fe and P additions on microstructures and properties of Cu-Cr-Zr resistance spot welding electrode alloy. Appl. Mech. Mater. 651, 20–23 (2014).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
León, K.V., Muñoz-Morris, M.A., and Morris, D.G.: Optimisation of strength and ductility of Cu–Cr–Zr by combining severe plastic deformation and precipitation. Mater. Sci. Eng. A 536, 181–189 (2012).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Vinogradov, A., Patlan, V., Suzuki, Y., Kitagawa, K., and Kopylov, V.I.: Structure and properties of ultra-fine grain Cu–Cr–Zr alloy produced by equal-channel angular pressing. Acta Mater. 50, 1639–1651 (2002).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Takata, N., Ohtake, Y., Kita, K., Kitagawa, K., and Tsuji, N.: Increasing the ductility of ultrafine-grained copper alloy by introducing fine precipitates. Scr. Mater. 60, 590–593 (2009).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Takata, N., Lee, S.-H., and Tsuji, N.: Ultrafine grained copper alloy sheets having both high strength and high electric conductivity. Mater. Lett. 63, 1757–1760 (2009).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Islamgaliev, R.K., Nesterov, K.M., Bourgon, J., Champion, Y., and Valiev, R.Z.: Nanostructured Cu-Cr alloy with high strength and electrical conductivity. J. Appl. Phys. 115, 194301 (2014).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fedorova, I., Belyakov, A., Shakhova, I., Yanushkevich, Z., and Kaibyshev, R.: Grain refinement in a Cu–Cr–Zr alloy during multidirectional forging. Mater. Sci. Eng. A 606, 380–389 (2014).Google Scholar
Medrano-Prieto, H.M., Garay-Reyes, C.G., Maldonado-Orozco, M.C., Aguilar-Santillan, J., Estrada-Guel, I., Gómez-Esparza, C.D., and Martínez-Sánchez, R.: Effect of nickel addition and solution treatment time on microstructure and hardness of Al-Si-Cu aged alloys. Mater. Charact. 120, 168–174 (2016).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Qiu, F., Shen, P., Liu, C., and Jiang, Q.: Effects of Ni addition on the microstructure and compressive deformation behavior in Zr–Cu–Ni martensitic alloys. Mater. Des. 34, 143–147 (2012).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nazarian-Samani, M., Abdollah-Pour, H., Mirzaee, O., Kamali, A.R., and Nazarian-Samani, M.: Effects of Ni addition on the microstructure and properties of nanostructured copper–germanium alloys. Intermetallics 38, 80–87 (2013).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zhang, X., Shi, Z., and Zhang, R.: Effect of rare earth La modification on microstructure and properties of ZL101 alloy. Mater. Sci. Forum 675, 651–654 (2011).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Liu, C., Xia, K., and Li, W.: The comparison of effects of four rare earth elements additions on structures and grain sizes of Ti-44Al alloy. J. Mater. Sci. 37, 1515–1522 (2002).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Salimyanfard, F., Toroghinejad, M.R., Szpunar, J.A., Hoseini, M., and Ashrafizadeh, F.: Investigation of texture and mechanical properties of copper processed by new route of equal channel angular pressing. Mater. Des. 44, 374–381 (2013).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mishra, A., Kad, B.K., Grégori, F., and Meyers, M.A.: Microstructural evolution in copper subjected to severe plastic deformation: Experiments and analysis. Acta Mater. 55, 13–28 (2007).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Xu, C., Furukawa, M., Langdon, T.G., and Horita, Z.: Using ECAP to achieve grain refinement, precipitate fragmentation and high strain rate superplasticity in a spray-cast aluminum alloy. Acta Mater. 51, 6139–6149 (2003).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mishra, A., Richard, V., Grégori, F., Asaro, R.J., and Meyers, M.A.: Microstructural evolution in copper processed by severe plastic deformation. Mater. Sci. Eng. A 410, 290–298 (2005).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zhilyaev, A.P., Shakhova, I., Morozova, A., Belyakov, A., and Kaibyshev, R.: Grain refinement kinetics and strengthening mechanisms in Cu–0.3Cr–0.5Zr alloy subjected to intense plastic deformation. Mater. Sci. Eng. A 654, 131–142 (2016).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zhao, Y.H., Lu, K., and Zhang, K.: Microstructure evolution and thermal properties in nanocrystalline Cu during mechanical attrition. Phys. Rev. B 66 (2002).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cohen, J.B. and Wagner, C.: Determination of twin fault probabilities from the diffraction patterns of fcc metals and alloys. J. Appl. Phys. 33, 2073–2077 (1962).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wagner, C.N.J.: Stacking faults by low-temperature cold work in copper and alpha brass. Acta Metall. 5, 427–434 (1957).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Volinsky, A.A., Tran, H.T., Chai, Z., Liu, P., Tian, B., and Liu, Y.: Aging behavior and precipitates analysis of the Cu–Cr–Zr–Ce alloy. Mater. Sci. Eng. A 650, 248–253 (2016).Google Scholar
Wang, T., Li, T., Zou, C., Wang, W., Chen, Z., Kang, H., Li, R., and Zhang, S.: A high strength and high electrical conductivity Cu-Cr-Zr alloy fabricated by cryorolling and intermediate aging treatment. Mater. Sci. Eng. A 680, 108–114 (2017).Google Scholar
Zhou, J., Zhu, D., Tang, L., Jiang, X., Chen, S., Peng, X., and Hu, C.: Microstructure and properties of powder metallurgy Cu-1%Cr-0.65%Zr alloy prepared by hot pressing. Vacuum 131, 156–163 (2016).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Demirtas, M., Alemdag, Y., Shangina, D.V., Dobatkin, S.V., Purcek, G., and Yanar, H.: Optimization of strength, ductility and electrical conductivity of Cu–Cr–Zr alloy by combining multi-route ECAP and aging. Mater. Sci. Eng. A 649, 114–122 (2016).Google Scholar
Deng, J., Zhang, X., Shang, S., Liu, F., Zhao, Z., and Ye, Y.: Effect of Zr addition on the microstructure and properties of Cu–10Cr in situ composites. Mater. Des. 30, 4444–4449 (2009).CrossRefGoogle Scholar