The microstructure controlling and deformation behaviors of Cu-Fe-C alloy prepared by rapid solidification

In order to improve the deformability and strength simultaneously, an advanced Cu-Fe-C alloy with dual-phase structure was prepared by combining a vacuum melting and rapid solidification. The microstructure evolution and deformation behaviors of Cu-Fe-C alloy in the different conditions were studied systematically. The results show that, the uniform distribution of both micro- and nano-sized Fe-C particles can be obtained in the alloy by controlling the solidification rate, corresponding to the prediction of modified Shangguan model. The phase transformation of Fe-C phases and copper-type shear bands can be induced during cold rolling process, the former directly enhancing the work hardening exponent and cooperative deformability. According to the microstructure evolution and tensile fracture morphologies of Cu-Fe-C alloy with a dual-phase structure, the corresponding fracture models were put forward in this paper. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.