Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Effect of extrusion temperature on microstructure and properties of an ultrafine-grained Cu matrix nanocomposite fabricated by powder compact extrusion

  • Metals
  • Published:
Journal of Materials Science Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Ultrafine-grained Cu–5 vol%Al2O3 nanocomposite rods were fabricated by a combination of high-energy mechanical milling of Cu and Al2O3 powders and powder compact extrusion at 300, 500, 700 and 900 °C. The extruded rods were investigated to evaluate microstructures, mechanical properties, fracture behavior and electrical resistivity. It was found that the extrusion temperature has a pronounced effect on Cu grain growth, Al2O3 particle coarsening and particle distribution. High-temperature extrusion leads to directional coarsening of certain grains. As such, a heterogeneous matrix structure of large elongated and equiaxed grains is created, and this unique matrix structure brings beneficial effects in tensile ductility and electrical resistivity. While Al2O3 dispersions in the matrix improve the overall performance of the nanocomposite, an incorrect selection of the extrusion temperature may have detrimental effects on yield strength and resistivity. Tensile fractography investigation shows that the presence of Al2O3 results in failures along grain boundaries. This study also provides a framework for modeling the mechanical and electrical properties of such complex matrix structures. Modeling tools/formulae can be used to predict mechanical/electrical properties via microscopic characteristics and hence can also be used to understand the effect of processing variables.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3
Figure 4
Figure 5
Figure 6
Figure 7
Figure 8

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Wang F, Li Y, Wang X, Koizumi Y, Kenta Y, Chiba A (2016) In-situ fabrication and characterization of ultrafine structured Cu–TiC composites with high strength and high conductivity by mechanical milling. J Alloys Compd 657:122–132

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Zhou DS, Zeng W, Zhang DL (2016) A feasible ultrafine grained Cu matrix composite microstructure for achieving high strength and high electrical conductivity. J Alloys Compd 682:590–593

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Ďurišinová K, Ďurišin J, Orolínová M, Ďurišin M, Szabó J (2015) Effect of mechanical milling on nanocrystalline grain stability and properties of Cu–Al2O3 composite prepared by thermo-chemical technique and hot extrusion. J Alloys Compd 618:204–209

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Wang F, Li Y, Xie G, Wakoh K, Yamanaka K, Koizumi Y, Chiba A (2016) Investigation on hot deformation behavior of nanoscale TiC-strengthened Cu alloys fabricated by mechanical milling. Mater Sci Eng A 668:1–12

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Darling KA, Huskins EL, Schuster BE, Wei Q, Kecskes LJ (2015) Mechanical properties of a high strength Cu–Ta composite at elevated temperature. Mater Sci Eng A 638:322–328

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Darling KA, Rajagopalan M, Komarasamy M, Bhatia MA, Hornbuckle BC, Mishra RS, Solanki KN (2016) Extreme creep resistance in a microstructurally stable nanocrystalline alloy. Nature 537(7620):378–381

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Hu LX, Li ZM, Wang ED (1999) Influence of extrusion ratio and temperature on microstructure and mechanical properties of 2024 aluminium alloy consolidated from nanocrystalline alloy powders via hot hydrostatic extrusion. Powder Metall 42(2):153–156

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Liang GX, Meng QC, Li ZC, Wang ED (1995) Consolidation of nanocrystalline Al–Ti alloy powders synthesized by mechanical alloying. Nanostruct Mater 5(6):673–678

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Malow TR, Koch CC (1998) Mechanical properties, ductility, and grain size of nanocrystalline iron produced by mechanical attrition. Metall Mater Trans A 29(9):2285–2295

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Nieman GW, Weertman JR, Siegel RW (1991) Mechanical behavior of nanocrystalline Cu and Pd. J Mater Res 6(05):1012–1027

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Sanders PG, Eastman JA, Weertman JR (1997) Elastic and tensile behavior of nanocrystalline copper and palladium. Acta Mater 45(10):4019–4025

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. Zhang DL, Koch CC, Scattergood RO (2009) The role of new particle surfaces in synthesizing bulk nanostructured metallic materials by powder metallurgy. Mater Sci Eng A 516(1):270–275

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. Zhang DL, Muhktar A, Nadakuduru VN, Raynova S (2009) The possibility of synthesizing bulk nanostructured or ultrafine structured metallic materials by consolidation of powders using high strain powder compact forging. Int J Mater Res 100(12):1720–1726

    Article  Google Scholar 

  14. Botcharova E, Freudenberger J, Schultz L (2006) Mechanical and electrical properties of mechanically alloyed nanocrystalline Cu–Nb alloys. Acta Mater 54(12):3333–3341

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. Zhou DS, Zhang DL, Kong C, Munroe P, Torrens R (2014) Thermal stability of the nanostructure of mechanically milled Cu–5 vol%Al2O3 nanocomposite powder particles. J Mater Res 29(08):996–1005

    Article  Google Scholar 

  16. Williamson GK, Hall WH (1953) X-ray line broadening from filed aluminium and wolfram. Acta Metall 1(1):22–31

    Article  Google Scholar 

  17. Williamson GK, Smallman RE (1956) III. Dislocation densities in some annealed and cold-worked metals from measurements on the X-ray debye-scherrer spectrum. Philos Mag 1(1):34–46

    Article  Google Scholar 

  18. Stokes AR, Wilson AJC (1944) The diffraction of X-rays by distorted crystal aggregates-I. Proc Phys Soc 56(3):174

    Article  Google Scholar 

  19. Simões S, Calinas R, Vieira M, Vieira M, Ferreira P (2010) In situ TEM study of grain growth in nanocrystalline copper thin films. Nanotechnology 21(14):145701

    Article  Google Scholar 

  20. Smith CS (1948) Grains, Phases, and interfaces: an interpretation of microstructure. Trans AIME 175:15–51

    Google Scholar 

  21. Morris D, Morris M (1991) Microcrystalline or nanocrystalline grain size in two-phase alloys after mechanical alloying. Mater Sci Eng A 134:1418–1421

    Article  Google Scholar 

  22. Manohar P, Ferry M, Chandra T (1998) Five decades of the Zener equation. ISIJ Int 38(9):913–924

    Article  Google Scholar 

  23. Wang YM, Chen MW, Zhou FH, Ma E (2002) High tensile ductility in a nanostructured metal. Nature 419(6910):912–915

    Article  Google Scholar 

  24. Zhang ZH, Topping T, Li Y, Vogt R, Zhou YZ, Haines C, Paras J, Kapoor D, Schoenung JM, Lavernia EJ (2011) Mechanical behavior of ultrafine-grained Al composites reinforced with B4C nanoparticles. Scr Mater 65(8):652–655

    Article  Google Scholar 

  25. Wu XL, Yang MX, Yuan FP, Wu GL, Wei YJ, Huang XX, Zhu YT (2015) Heterogeneous lamella structure unites ultrafine-grain strength with coarse-grain ductility. PNAS 112(47):14501–14505

    Article  Google Scholar 

  26. Ma E, Zhu T (2017) Towards strength–ductility synergy through the design of heterogeneous nanostructures in metals. Mater Today 20(6):323–331

    Article  Google Scholar 

  27. Petch NJ (1953) The cleavage strength of polycrystals. J Iron Steel Inst 174:25–28

    Google Scholar 

  28. Hall EO (1951) The deformation and ageing of mild steel: III discussion of results. Proc Phys Soc B 64(9):747

    Article  Google Scholar 

  29. Meyers MA, Chawla KK (2009) Mechanical behavior of materials. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge

    Google Scholar 

  30. Dieter GE, Bacon D (1988) Mechanical metallurgy. McGraw-Hill, New York

    Google Scholar 

  31. Nadkarni AV (1984) Dispersion strengthened copper: properties and applications. High conductivity copper and aluminum alloys. TMS-AIME, Warrendale, PA

  32. Hansen N, Ralph B (1982) The strain and grain size dependence of the flow stress of copper. Acta Metall 30(2):411–417

    Article  Google Scholar 

  33. Ashby MF (1970) The deformation of plastically non-homogeneous materials. Philos Mag 21(170):399–424

    Article  Google Scholar 

  34. Tang F, Anderson IE, Gnaupel-Herold T, Prask H (2004) Pure Al matrix composites produced by vacuum hot pressing: tensile properties and strengthening mechanisms. Mater Sci Eng A 383(2):362–373

    Article  Google Scholar 

  35. Molotnikov A, Lapovok R, Davies CHJ, Cao W, Estrin Y (2008) Size effect on the tensile strength of fine-grained copper. Scr Mater 59(11):1182–1185

    Article  Google Scholar 

  36. Besterci M (1994) Structure analysis of dispersion strengthening. Scr Metall 30(9):1145–1149

    Article  Google Scholar 

  37. Matthiessen A, Vogt C (1864) On the influence of temperature on the electric conducting-power of alloys. Philos Trans R Soc Lond 154:167–200

    Article  Google Scholar 

  38. Murashkin MY, Sabirov I, Sauvage X, Valiev RZ (2016) Nanostructured Al and Cu alloys with superior strength and electrical conductivity. J Mater Sci 51(1):33–49. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10853-015-9354-9

    Article  Google Scholar 

  39. Andrews PV, West MB, Robeson CR (1969) The effect of grain boundaries on the electrical resistivity of polycrystalline copper and aluminium. Philos Mag 19(161):887–898

    Article  Google Scholar 

  40. McLachlan DS, Blaszkiewicz M, Newnham RE (1990) Electrical resistivity of composites. J Am Ceram Soc 73(8):2187–2203

    Article  Google Scholar 

  41. Sudharshan Phani P, Vishnukanthan V, Sundararajan G (2007) Effect of heat treatment on properties of cold sprayed nanocrystalline copper alumina coatings. Acta Mater 55(14):4741–4751

    Article  Google Scholar 

  42. Schafler E, Steiner G, Korznikova E, Kerber M, Zehetbauer MJ (2005) Lattice defect investigation of ECAP-Cu by means of X-ray line profile analysis, calorimetry and electrical resistometry. Mater Sci Eng A 410:169–173

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

Funding from the China Scholarship Council (CSC) (File No. 2010645006), National Natural Science Foundation of China (Project No. 51271115) and the SJTU-UNSW Strategic Collaboration Fund to support this work is gratefully acknowledged.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory for Anisotropy and Texture of Materials (Ministry of Education), Northeastern University, Shenyang, 110819, China

    Dengshan Zhou, Hongwei Geng & Deliang Zhang

  2. Institute of Ceramics and Powder Metallurgy, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Northeastern University, Shenyang, 110819, China

    Dengshan Zhou, Hongwei Geng & Deliang Zhang

  3. Waikato Centre for Advanced Materials, School of Engineering, The University of Waikato, Private Bag 3105, Hamilton, New Zealand

    Dengshan Zhou & Rob Torrens

  4. State Key Laboratory for Metal Matrix Materials, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, 200240, China

    Wei Zeng

  5. Herbert Gleiter Institute of Nanoscience, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Nanjing University of Science and Technology, Nanjing, 210094, Jiangsu, China

    Gang Sha

  6. Electron Microscope Unit, The University of New South Wales, Sydney, 2052, Australia

    Charlie Kong

  7. Microscopy and Microanalysis Facility, John de Laeter Centre, Curtin University, Bentley, 6845, Australia

    Zakaria Quadir

  8. School of Materials Science and Engineering, The University of New South Wales, Sydney, 2052, Australia

    Paul Munroe

  9. Australian Centre for Microscopy and Microanalysis, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, 2006, Australia

    Patrick Trimby

Authors
  1. Dengshan Zhou
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Hongwei Geng
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Wei Zeng
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Gang Sha
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Charlie Kong
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Zakaria Quadir
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. Paul Munroe
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  8. Rob Torrens
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  9. Patrick Trimby
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  10. Deliang Zhang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Dengshan Zhou or Deliang Zhang.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest related to the publication of this paper.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Zhou, D., Geng, H., Zeng, W. et al. Effect of extrusion temperature on microstructure and properties of an ultrafine-grained Cu matrix nanocomposite fabricated by powder compact extrusion. J Mater Sci 53, 5389–5401 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10853-017-1952-2

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10853-017-1952-2

Keywords

Search

Navigation