Enhanced strength–ductility synergy in nanostructured Cu and Cu–Al alloys processed by high-pressure torsion and subsequent annealing

• Published in: Scripta materialia Vol. 66; no. 5; pp. 227 - 230
• Main Authors: An, X.H., Wu, S.D., Zhang, Z.F., Figueiredo, R.B., Gao, N., Langdon, T.G.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier Ltd 01.03.2012
• Subjects: Alloys; Annealing; ANNEALING PROCESSES; COPPER ALLOYS (40 TO 99.3 CU); COPPER ALUMINUM ALLOYS; Copper base alloys; Cu and Cu–Al alloy; DUCTILITY; HIGH PRESSURE; High-pressure torsion (HPT); INTERMETALLIC COMPOUNDS; MICROSTRUCTURES; Nanostructure; STACKING FAULT ENERGY; Stacking fault energy (SFE); Strength; Strength–ductility synergy; Torsion; Strength–ductility synergy; Cu and Cu–Al alloy; Nanostructure; High-pressure torsion (HPT); Stacking fault energy (SFE)
• ISSN: 1359-6462; 1872-8456
• DOI: 10.1016/j.scriptamat.2011.10.043

Nanostructured Cu and Cu–Al alloys processed by high-pressure torsion were isochronally annealed to investigate the effects of the stacking fault energy (SFE) on strength and ductility. All metals exhibit a similar general trend that the strength decreases and the ductility improves with increasing annealing temperatures, and a notable enhancement of ductility was achieved only when the volume fraction of recrystallized grains exceeded ∼80%. The strength–ductility synergy improves significantly with decreasing SFE.