A review on aluminum alloy conductors influenced by alloying elements and thermomechanical treatments: Microstructure and properties

The new all-aluminum alloy conductors gradually replace the steel core conductors and develop rapidly and are widely used around the world in aerospace, construction, automobile, and civil industries. The main production of aluminum alloy conductors is elaborated, pure aluminum series, Al-Mg-Si series, Al-Fe series, and Al-Zr-RE (rare earth) series. Some traditional processing methods and novel materials forming technologies are necessary processes for aluminum alloy conductors to improve their mechanical properties and conductivity, such as alloying elements additions, severe deformation, heat treatments, selective laser melting, and Al-based composites. Clarifying the relationship between different series aluminum alloy conductors' morphologies and related properties is helpful to solve the bottleneck problems of key common technologies in the power transmission industry such as material research, structure design, and production technology.