Effects of Thermo-mechanical Treatment on Microstructure and Properties of Cu-Cr-Zr Alloys

CuCrZr alloys are attractive metallic materials for applications on trolley wire of electric locomotive, integrated circuit and fusion reactor. The solid solution CuCrZr alloys were thermo-mechanically treated by heating up to various temperatures from 100 °C to 300 °C for aging treatment. Different tension elongations were exerted on the samples to accelerate the introduction of high density dislocations. The results showed that the combination of aging treatment and the simultaneous tension deformation can increase the hardness of the sample while decrease their electric conductivity. The high temperature of 300 °C resulted less reduction of electri*c conductivity than the low treated temperature of 100 °C. The disperse precipitation of the secondary phase were observed from the XRD and optical observations. The tension deformation leaded to the preferred orientation in the sample. The combination of aging treatment and the simultaneous tension deformation could reduce the aging temperature of CuCrZr alloys.