Microstructure and properties of heavily drawn Cu-Ag-Fe composites

Heavily drawn Cu-6 wt% Ag-2 wt% Fe, Cu-6 wt% Ag-4 wt% Fe and Cu-6 wt% Ag-6 wt% Fe were prepared by melting, homogenizing and cold drawing processes. The homogenizing treatment promotes the precipitation of secondary particles in the matrix, which results in finer and more uniform composite filaments in the drawn microstructure. With the increase of Fe content, the tensile strength increases but the electrical conductivity decreases. The strengthening of the composites and the decrease of the conductivity could be divided into two stages, which is explained by the non-homogeneous deformation model. At η = 5.6, dynamic recovery is thought to occur due to the temperature rise associated with severe deformation, leading to the sudden increase of the conductivity. A dislocation mechanism or an interface obstacle mechanism could be considered to be responsible for the strengthening and conducting behaviors.