Microstructure Development in Additive Friction Stir-Deposited Cu

This work details the additive friction stir-deposition (AFS-D) of copper and evaluation of its microstructure evolution and hardness. During deposition, a surface oxide is formed on the deposit exterior. A very fine porosity is formed at the substrate-deposit interface. The deposit (four layers of 1 mm nominal height) is otherwise fully dense. The grains appear to have recrystallized throughout the deposit with varying levels of refinement. The prevalence of twinning was found to be dependent upon the grain size, with larger local grain sizes having a higher number of twins. Vickers hardness measurements reveal that the deposit is softer than the starting feedstock. This result indicates that grain refinement and/or higher twin densities do not replace work hardening contributions to strengthen Cu processed by additive friction stir-deposition.