A novel method to improve the hardness and electrical conductivity of Cu–Cr–Al alloy

• High pressure aging treatment dramatically improves the mechanical properties and electrical conductivity.
• The aging temperature at 480 °C for 60 min and high pressure was used to be 4 GPa can get the maximum hardness value.
• The aging temperature at 510 °C can get the maximum electrical conductivity.

As a novel method, high pressure aging treatment dramatically improves the hardness and electrical conductivity of Cu51.76Cr47.03Al1.21 alloy with regards to the corresponding values obtained by annealing the sample under a pressure of 1 bar.