Influence of Additional Element Zr on Strength and Conductivity of Fiber-reinforced Cu-Fe Wire

Effect of doping with trace zirconium on microstructure, electrical resistivity and strength of the iron-fiber reinforced Cu-Fe wires were investigated. The spherical ZrO2 particles were homogeneously distributed in Fe-fiber and Cumatrix of Cu-11.3Fe-0.2Zr wire. The ultimate tensile strength and the conductivity of Cu-11.3Fe-0.2Zr wire cold drawn to the drawing strain η = 7.57 with intermediate annealing were observed to be 824 MPa and 61.4% IACS, however, those of Cu-11.3Fe were 752 MPa and 64.6% IACS respectively. The thermal stability of Cu-matrix wire was improved by doping zirconium. Compared with Cu-11.3Fe wire, the strength of Cu-11.3Fe-0.2Zr wire does not drop more rapidly during aging treatment above 300 °C.