Evolution of Microstructure in a Cu-Cr in situ Composite Produced by Thermo-Mechanical Processing

This paper studied the microstructure evolution of a deformation-processed Cu-7Cr in situ composite prepared by thermo-mechanical processing. The longitudinal and transverse sectional microstructures were analyzed using an optical microscope and a scanning electronic microscope. In the longitudinal section, the initially randomly distributed Cr dendrites in the as-cast Cu-7Cr alloy were transformed into the fibres aligned parallel to the drawing axis;the Cr dendrites experienced breaking, flattening and rotating, lapping and merging, and homogenizing and refinement during thermo-mechanical processing. In the transverse section, the initially randomly distributed Cr dendrites in the as-cast Cu-7Cr alloy were changed into the curvy ribbon like fibres;the Cr dendrites underwent breaking, flattening and rotating, folding and twisting, and irregularizing and refinement during thermo-mechanical processing.