Enhanced mechanical and electrical properties of Cu-Ni-Be alloys through rotary swaging and aging treatment

Abstract

High-performance copper alloys with enhanced strength, conductivity, and toughness are critical in industrial applications, yet achieving this combination of properties in a bulk form remains challenging, as many strength-enhancing grain refinement methods are limited to small-scale production. This study investigates the development of Cu-Ni-Be alloys with high strength, high conductivity, and excellent ductility using rotary swaging (RS) as the primary processing method, followed by aging treatments. The RS process, known for its advantages in industrial-scale applications, enables the formation of fibrous, elongated grains with strong axial alignment, resulting in improved conductivity along the wire direction. Additionally, the triaxial compressive stresses inherent in RS promote effective dislocation accumulation, producing an alloy with a strength of 706 MPa, uniform elongation of 1.4%, and conductivity of 35% international annealed copper standard (IACS) in the as-swaged state. Optimized aging treatments further improve the comprehensive performance of the alloy, increasing its strength to 1064 MPa, uniform elongation to 10.4%, and conductivity to 46% IACS through the formation of dispersed nanoscale precipitates. These findings demonstrate that the Cu-Ni-Be alloy processed by RS and aging achieves a unique balance of tensile strength, ductility, and conductivity, making it highly suitable for industrial applications. This establishes RS as a viable approach for producing advanced Cu-Ni-Be alloys with tailored properties for the electrical and structural industries.