Microstructure and property evolution of CuCr50 alloy prepared by aluminum thermal reduction-electromagnetic casting during hot forging process

Abstract

To address the problems of low performance and density in CuCr50 alloys prepared by aluminum thermal reduction-electromagnetic casting, a synergistic process involving hot forging deformation to eliminate micropores in the alloy and heat treatment to modify the alloy was proposed. The effect of hot forging temperature on the microstructure evolution and performance strengthening of CuCr50 alloys during heat treatment was studied. The results show that the properties of CuCr50 alloys forged at different temperatures after heat treatment are better than those after direct heat treatment. After heat treatment, the conductivity of CuCr50 alloys forged at 800 °C reaches 22.41 MS/m, the density reaches 7.94 g/cm³, and the hardness reaches 112 HB, which are 73.59 %, 4.75 % and 37.59 % greater than those of the as-cast alloy, respectively. The microstructure analysis showed that the nano-Cr phase precipitated during the aging process of CuCr50 alloys after hot forging at 750 °C–850 °C had a semi-coherent relationship with the Cu matrix, which played a role in coherent strengthening. After hot forging at 900 °C, the precipitated Cr phase has an incoherent relationship with the Cu matrix, which played a role of dispersion strengthening. The performance test of 40.5 kV simulated vacuum interrupter shows that the breaking and chopping performance of the prepared CuCr50 contact material is obviously better than that of commercial products, which is expected to become a new process for the preparation of high performance CuCr contact materials.