Conductive Al Alloys: The Contradiction between Strength and Electrical Conductivity

• Published in: Advanced engineering materials Vol. 23; no. 5
• Main Authors: Wang, Yu, Zhu, Langjie, Niu, Guodong, Mao, Jian
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: 01.05.2021
• Subjects: aluminum alloys; electrical conductivity; influencing factors; strength
• ISSN: 1438-1656; 1527-2648
• DOI: 10.1002/adem.202001249

In recent years, the severe energy consumption identified in the global power‐transmission process makes the development of new generation of transmission materials with high strength (mainly the ultimate tensile strength) and outstanding electrical conductivity (EC) more urgent. Though Al and its alloys received significant attention from the scientific community in the past two decades due to their relatively high mechanical properties and excellent EC, increasing strength and EC are often incompatible in Al conductor alloys, which remains unresolved. Therefore, the ways to achieve the optimal compromise between the strength and EC has become a hot topic in current researches. This review focuses on the high‐strength conductive Al alloys that have been studied by researchers in the past two decades, and endeavors to reveal the relationship between the EC and the strength based on composition, microstructure, interface, and others. Moreover, the design ideas and treatment measures considering both conductivity and strength are also summarized. Herein, the authors systematically discuss the influence of various factors on the electrical conductivity and strength from the microscopic scale, such as alloying elements, grain boundaries, precipitates, dislocations, etc. Moreover, this review also summarizes the difficulties encountered in the development of high‐strength and high‐conductivity aluminum alloys.