Enhancement of strength-ductility synergy in ultrafine-grained Cu-Zn alloy prepared by ECAP and subsequent annealing

A homogeneously ultrafine-grained (UFG) Cu-38 Zn alloy with an average grain size of 0.64 mu m is successfully fabricated by equal channel angular processing (ECAP), which exhibits a significantly enhanced strength-ductility synergy. The strength enhancement can be attributed to grain refinement and dislocation strengthening. After annealing the ECAP processed alloy at 300 degrees C for 30 min, a further enhanced strength with almost unchanged ductility was achieved. This unusual annealing strengthens is associated with the solute/impurity segregation and precipitations inside the grains. (c) 2022 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Automated summary

A homogeneously ultrafine-grained (UFG) Cu-38 Zn alloy with an average grain size of 0.64 μm was successfully fabricated by equal channel angular processing (ECAP), exhibiting a significantly enhanced strength-ductility synergy. The observed strength enhancement can be attributed to grain refinement and dislocation strengthening. After annealing, the alloy showed further improved strength with almost unchanged ductility, which is associated with solute/impurity segregation and precipitation phenomena inside the grains.