Effect of Precipitation on the Mechanical Response of Cu–3Ag–0.6Zr Alloy during Hot Compression

Hot compression experiments were conducted on a Cu–Ag–Zr alloy with low Ag content, Cu–3Ag–0.6Zr, to investigate the effect of precipitation on the mechanical response of this alloy. The results show that the stress-strain behavior of Cu–3Ag–0.6Zr alloy is significantly affected by the precipitation. The flow stress of the alloy deformed at temperatures of 623–673 K and a strain rate of 10 −3 s −1 increases due to the occurrence of the continuous and discontinuous precipitation. However, the precipitation process is suppressed with increasing strain rate, resulting in almost identical flow stress of the alloy deformed at different temperatures.