Effect of ECAP on microstructure and mechanical properties of Cu-₁₄Fe microcomposite alloy

Abstract

In current study the Cu-14%(wt.)Fe alloy was subjected to 1-10 ECAP passes via route A and, in addition, to 4 passes via routes Bc and C. Microstructure of the alloy after ECAP was characterized using SEM and EBSD analysis. It was shown that the refinement of Fe particles largely depended on the processing route: route A was the most efficient and route Bc was the less efficient. After 10 passes via route A the average thickness of Fe particles decreased to about 3 μm from about 10 μm in initial state. However, the microstructure development in Cu matrix was found to be not dependent much on ECAP route – the average grain/subgrain reached value of about 0.25 μm (according to EBSD analysis) after 4 passes. The mechanical properties of the alloy were also found to be not sensitive to ECAP routes