Effect of thermomechanical treatment on mechanical and electrical properties of Cu-Cr-Zr alloy in continuous hybrid process

Abstract

The effect of thermomechanical treatment on mechanical and electrical properties of the Cu-Cr-Zr alloy was experimentally investigated through the Vickers micro-hardness, tension tests, and four-point probe method at room temperature. Three sets of experiments were carried out employing a commercially available alloy that was solution treated at 980 ˚C for 1 h in an argon atmosphere and water quenched. The order of the wire drawing or continuous hybrid processing and aging was varied to determine the effect of the thermomechanical treatment condition on material properties. The three-pass wire drawing and two-pass continuous hybrid processes after aging at 450 ˚C produced 508.8 MPa with 80.1% IACS and 529.4 MPa with 78.6% IACS, respectively. In conclusion, the continuous hybrid process might be an alternative to achieve the economical manufacturing in meeting the requirements for better strength and comparable electrical conductivity of the existing material compared to the conventional wire drawing.