title: Increasing strength and conductivity of Cu alloy through abnormal plastic deformation of an intermetallic compound.
abstract: The precipitation strengthening of Cu alloys inevitably accompanies lowering of their electric conductivity and ductility. We produced bulk Cu alloys arrayed with nanofibers of stiff intermetallic compound through a precipitation mechanism using conventional casting and heat treatment processes. We then successfully elongated these arrays of nanofibers in the bulk Cu alloys to 400% of original length without breakage at room temperature using conventional rolling process. By inducing such an one-directional array of nanofibers of intermetallic compound from the uniform distribution of fine precipitates in the bulk Cu alloys, the trade-off between strength and conductivity and between strength and ductility could be significantly reduced. We observed a simultaneous increase in electrical conductivity by 1.3 times and also tensile strength by 1.3 times in this Cu alloy bulk compared to the conventional Cu alloys.
authors.affiliation: Structural Materials Division, Korea Institute of Materials Science, Changwon 642-831, Korea.
authors.forename: Seung Zeon
authors.initials: SZ
authors.lastname: Han
authors.affiliation: Department of Advanced Materials Science and Engineering, Kangwon National University, Chuncheon 200-701, Korea.
authors.forename: Sung Hwan
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Lim
authors.affiliation: Department of Materials Engineering and Convergence Technology, ReCAPT, Gyeongsang National University, Chinju 660-701, Korea.
authors.forename: Sangshik
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Changwon National University, Changwon 641-773, Korea.
authors.forename: Jehyun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Department of Mechanical Engineering, Oita University, Oita 870-1192, Japan.
authors.forename: Masahiro
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Goto
authors.affiliation: Gangwon Regional Division, Korea Institute of Industrial Technology, Gangneung 210-340, Korea.
authors.forename: Hyung Giun
authors.initials: HG
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Yonsei University, Seoul, 120-749, Korea.
authors.forename: Byungchan
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Han
authors.affiliation: School of Materials Science and Engineering, Pusan National University, Busan 609-735, Korea.
authors.forename: Kwang Ho
authors.initials: KH
authors.lastname: Kim