Electrical Conductivity of Ultrafine-Grained Cu and Al Alloys: Attaining the Best Compromise with Mechanical Properties

• Published in: MATERIALS TRANSACTIONS Vol. 64; no. 8; pp. 1754 - 1768
• Main Authors: González-Hernández, Joaquín E., Cubero-Sesin, Jorge M.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Sendai The Japan Institute of Metals and Materials 01-08-2023; Japan Science and Technology Agency
• Subjects: Alloy systems; Alloying elements; Aluminum base alloys; Boundary conditions; Composite materials; Copper; Crystal defects; electrical conductivity; Electrical resistivity; Electronic commerce; Grain boundaries; Grain refinement; High strength; Industrial applications; Mechanical properties; nanostructured metals; Plastic deformation; Route selection; severe plastic deformation; strengthening; Thermal stability; Ultrafines
• ISSN: 1345-9678; 1347-5320
• DOI: 10.2320/matertrans.MT-MF2022046

In recent years, the severe plastic deformation community has developed an interest for metallic materials with high strength and high electrical conductivity, with special focus in Cu- and Al-based alloys, including composite materials. Several processing and metallurgical strategies have been applied to control the influence of microstructure features such as grain refinement, grain boundary condition, defect structures and segregation of secondary phases, over the electrical and mechanical properties. This work summarizes an important body of literature where several strengthening mechanisms and methods to restore the electrical conductivity have been applied to produce ultrafine-grained or nanostructured Cu and Al alloys, mainly by intense imposed strain. A wide variety of alloy systems were studied for their industrial applications in the electrical and electronic market. It can be concluded that the balanced combination of alloying element selection and processing route (mainly attainable under high hydrostatic conditions) could provide high strength with high conductivity and thermal stability materials.