Influence of Fe Addition on the Microstructure and Mechanical Properties of Cu Alloys

¹Institute of Applied Physics, Jiangxi Academy of Sciences, Nanchang 330096, China

²School of Materials Science and Engineering, Chongqing University, Chongqing 400044, China

Corresponding authors: *Huihui Yu, Institute of Applied Physics, Jiangxi Academy of Sciences, Nanchang 330096, China. E-mail: [email protected]; **Rui Hong, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Chongqing University, Chongqing 400044, China. E-mail: [email protected]

Received: September 26, 2021

Published: October 27, 2021

ABSTRACT: The influence of Fe addition on the microstructure and mechanical properties of Cu alloys was studied. Combined with phase identification via EDS, X-ray diffraction shows that only Cu matrix and a-Fe phase exist in Cu-5Fe, Cu-10Fe and Cu-14Fe alloys. With the addition of Fe, the grain size refines from 1011 mm in pure Cu to around 46 mm in Cu-Fe alloys. Phase identification of the alloys via EBSD shows that the a-Fe phase with an average grain size of about 4 mm is located in grain boundaries and in the grain interior. With increasing Fe content, the yield stress largely increased while maintaining the high elongation to failure. The results show that grain refinement; second phase strengthening and texture strengthening effect play a descending-order role in the overall strengthening effect.

KEYWORDS: Cu-Fe alloy; grain refinement; texture; mechanical properties.