Internally oxidized silver contact materials – a case for the elastoplasticity of an inhomogeneous body

The mechanical properties of oxide dispersion strengthened silver after various extrusions, which is a material optimized for electrical contacts and typical of a mechanically inhomogeneous polycrystalline state, are analysed and correlated with the arising microstructure. It is shown that the positive (in view of engineering applications) changes in yield stress and ductility can be attributed essentially to the oxide particle distribution that becomes induced increasingly homogeneous within the extruded rods by the extrusions. These changes can well be understood by a simulation of a composite on the basis of Voigt-type averaging of elastic properties. (© 2009 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)