Characterization of W80Cu20 alloy sheet prepared by hot-rolling

Multi-pass hot-rolling technique was used to fabricate W80Cu20 alloy, and its properties were characterized in this paper. Results show that the W-Cu alloy sheets with a thickness of 0.5 mm and a relative density of 99.87 % can be successfully made using this new technique at 800 °C. In hot-rolling process, Cu phases are closely surrounded by W particles under the rolling stress to form a network microstructure, thus making significant increase in electrical and thermal conductivity up to 53.00 % and 24.44 %, respectively. Transverse and longitudinal hardness of the W–Cu sheets significantly increase due to the enhanced densification and deformation strength. Similar to that of the raw materials, three fracture types were observed in the hot-rolled materials, i.e., ductile fracture of Cu binding phases, trans-granular fracture of W phases, and W–W interfacial fracture.