Characterization of ultrafine grained Cu-Ni-Si alloys by electron backscatter diffraction

Abstract

A combination of rotary swaging and optimized precipitation hardening was applied to generate ultra fine grained (UFG) microstructures in low alloyed high performance Cu-based alloy CuNi3Si1Mg. As a result, ultrafine grained (UFG) microstructures with nanoscopically small Ni2Si-precipitates exhibiting high strength, ductility and electrical conductivity can be obtained. Grain boundary pinning by nano-precipitates enhances the thermal stability. Electron channeling contrast imaging (ECCI) and especially electron backscattering diffraction (EBSD) are predestined to characterize the evolving microstructures due to excellent resolution and vast crystallographic information. The following study summarizes the microstructure after different processing steps and points out the consequences for the most important mechanical and physical properties such as strength, ductility and conductivity. © Published under licence by IOP Publishing Ltd.