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Controlling CuCrZr alloy properties and microstructure rapidly by pulsed electric treatment (PET)

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Abstract

Pulsed electric treatment (PET) is a promising method for improving properties due to its clean, efficient, convenient, eco-friendly, and sustainable characteristics, thereby satisfying the target of carbon emission reduction and high-quality production. Previous studies have mainly focused on precipitate phases. In contrast, we place a primary emphasis on exploring the microstructural aspects to elucidate the reasons behind the performance enhancement of CuCrZr through PET. In this work, the properties and microstructure after PET in the cold-rolling CuCrZr alloy plate were investigated, and the mechanisms of PET were also revealed. The strength, strain, and electrical conductivity of CuCrZr alloy are increased by ~ 19.5%, ~ 186%, and ~ 73.1%, respectively. The improvement of the above properties is due to PET which can tailor the distribution of dislocation, achieve grain refinement, and promote the transformation of different textures. It is worth noting that dislocations move from the interior to around the grain boundary and gradually annihilate at high temperature with the increasing voltage of PET. At the same time, the current can enhance the < 111 > and < 101 > orientations and increase the volume fraction of {112} < 011 > texture and {112} < 110 > texture. Compared with traditional heat treatment, properties can be better improved under the proper processing parameters of PET. And the PET can induce the CuCrZr alloy to recrystallize at a low temperature.

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Data availability

The data that support the findings of this study are available in this paper and on a request from the corresponding author.

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Acknowledgements

This work was funded by the Natural Science Foundation of Sichuan Province 2022NSFC0336.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Mechanical Engineering, Sichuan University, Chengdu, 610065, China

    Qiang Li, Mingxia Wu, Ling Xue, Ju Huang, Zhenshang Hu & Yi Yang

  2. School of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering, Shaoxing University, Shaoxing, 312000, China

    Gaolei Xu

  3. Zhejiang Winjoy New Material Co., LTD, Shaoxing, 312300, China

    Cunhui Wu & Xing Lou

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  1. Qiang Li
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  2. Mingxia Wu
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  3. Ling Xue
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  4. Ju Huang
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Contributions

QL was involved in investigation, methodology, and writing—original draft. MW helped with data curation, formal analysis, writing—review and editing, and funding acquisition. LX participated in validation, formal analysis, and investigation. JH, CW, and XL were involved in validation and data curation. ZH was involved in data curation and investigation. GX helped in data curation, writing—review and editing, and visualization. YY helped with data curation, formal analysis, and supervision.

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Correspondence to Mingxia Wu or Gaolei Xu.

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Li, Q., Wu, M., Xue, L. et al. Controlling CuCrZr alloy properties and microstructure rapidly by pulsed electric treatment (PET). J Mater Sci 59, 4680–4699 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10853-024-09516-5

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