Influence of Al2O3 reinforcement on precipitation kinetic of Cu–Cr nanocomposite

In this paper, the kinetic of precipitation process in mechanically alloyed Cu-1 wt.% Cr and Cu-1 wt.% Cr/3 wt.% Al2O3 solid solution was compared using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The ageing kinetics in Cu–Cr and Cu–Cr/Al2O3 can be described using Johnson–Mehl–Avrami (JMA) and Sestak–Berggren (SB) models, respectively. These different behaviors have been discussed in details. It was found that in presence of Al2O3 reinforcement, the ageing activation energy is decreased and the overall ageing process is accelerated. This behavior is probably due to higher dislocation density previously obtained during ball milling and Al2O3–Cu interface. TEM observations confirm that Al2O3–Cu interface and structural defects act as a primary and secondary nucleation sites, respectively.

► Cr precipitation in Cu-1 wt.% Cr solid solution is based on nucleation and growth models.
► The overall ageing process is accelerated by the presence of Al2O3 reinforcement.
► Al2O3–Cu interfaces act as primary nucleation sites.
► Structural defects act as secondary nucleation sites.