Magnetic and Hardness Analysis During Precipitation and Recovery Process of Deformed Fe–Cu Alloy

This paper describes the characteristics of the coercive force and Vickers hardness for cold-rolled and thermally aged Fe–Cu alloys with varying isothermal aging times. Fe–1 wt% Cu alloys were cold-rolled and then thermally aged at 553 or 773 K from 0 to 104 min. The coercive force for the cold-rolled specimen decreases with increasing aging time, and the slope of the reduction becomes higher with increasing aging temperature. The recovery process contributes to the change in the coercive force. In contrast, the hardness increases with increasing aging time at an early aging stage and then eventually peaks. The copper precipitates play an important role in the change in the hardness and barely have an effect on the magnetic properties.