Hardness, electrical resistivity, and modeling of in situ Cu-Nb microcomposites

This paper reports our investigation on the evolution of microstructure, hardness, and electrical conductivity of in situ Cu-16.5 vol.% Nb microcomposites as a function of drawing strain. Both interface area density and lattice distortion were taken into account for analyzing the hardness and resistivity at different levels of plastic strain. A model was developed for describing microstructure dimensions including both spacing and curl of Nb ribbons. Based on this model, a modified Hall-Petch formula was derived. Our results suggest that interface area density and lattice distortion have significant impacts on both hardness and electrical resistivity. (C) 2014 Elsevier B. V. All rights reserved.