Hard Copper with Good Electrical Conductivity Fabricated by Accumulative Roll-Bonding to Ultrahigh Strains

By modifying the accumulative roll-bonding (ARB) procedures, accumulative roll-bonding (ARB) processing up to 30 cycles (N) with a 50% thickness reduction per cycle (equivalent strain = 24) at room temperature was conducted on pure copper. The bonding condition, microhardness and electrical conductivity of the ARBed Cu were studied. Results showed that good bonding condition of the samples was achieved. As N increases, the microhardness of ARBed Cu increases, reaching similar to 2.9 times that of annealed Cu for N = 30. The electrical conductivity of ARBed Cu decreases slightly but with periodic fluctuations for N > 10, with a minimum of 90.4% IACS for N = 30. Our study indicated that ARB can be an effective way to produce high-hardness and high-conductivity pure copper better than or comparable to Cu alloys and Cu based composites as reported.