A study on microstructure development and mechanical properties of pure copper subjected to severe plastic deformation by the ECAP-Conform process

Commercially pure copper rod was successfully subjected to severe plastic deformation by applying the continuous equal channel angular pressing (ECAP-Conform) method at room temperature. Microstructural characterizations of copper rod samples at various stages of plastic deformation were carried out by optical microscopy and electron backscatter diffraction methods. X-ray diffractometry and Kernal average misorientation were used for dislocation density estimations. Microstructural evaluations revealed grain size change of 30 μm for the initial annealed copper rod to less than 5 μm and even 100 nm for severely deformed samples. Mechanical behaviors of samples after different deformation stages were characterized using tensile and hardness tests. The ultimate tensile strength of the severely deformed copper rod was increased threefold by ECAP-Conform while elongation halved in comparison to the initial annealed copper. Low-temperature annealing of severely plastic deformed samples led to bi-modal grain size distribution and lowering of strength accompanied by the increase of elongation. Tensile properties of severely deformed and then annealed copper samples showed around a 40% increase in both ultimate tensile strength and elongation in comparison to the initial annealed copper rod.