Microstructure and properties of Cu-10 wt%Fe alloy produced by double melt mixed casting and multi-stage thermomechanical treatment

Abstract A Cu-10 wt%Fe alloy with high strength and high conductivity was prepared by double melt mixed casting and multi-stage thermomechanical treatment. The microstructure, mechanical property and electrical property evolutions and the strengthening mechanism during the preparation of the alloys were studied. The results showed that there were spherical Fe phase and dendritic Fe phase in the as-cast alloy. After cold rolling, the dendritic Fe phase was elongated along the rolling direction to form fibrous Fe phase, and the spherical Fe phase was flattened along the normal direction of sheet to form ellipsoidal particles after three passes of cold rolling. During aging, a large number of Fe phase particles with a diameter of 20–150 nm precipitated in the alloy. The tensile strength, yield strength and electrical conductivity of the alloys were 608 MPa, 583 MPa and 58% IACS, respectively. The main strengthening mechanism of the alloys was sub-structure strengthening calculated by strengthening model.