On the Mechanism of Precipitation in Cu-2 wt%Be Alloy

Since the Cu-Be alloy has high age-hardenability, many investigations have been carried out on the characteristic. In this study the Cu-2 wt%Be alloy was aged at a different temperature and its mechanism of precipitation was studied by means of hardness measurement, optical microscopy and transmission electron microscopy. The results show that the aging sequence of the Cu-2%Be alloy in the grains is α→G.P. zone→short range order→γ and that at the grain boundary α→γ. The precipitated γ phase is very fine and coexist with fine α grains as a mixture. The high age-hardenability of the Cu-Be alloy seems to be caused by the formation of the G.P. zone and the short range order inside the grains.