Laser powder bed fusion of copper matrix iron particle reinforced nanocomposite with high strength and high conductivity

doi:10.1016/j.jmst.2022.06.007

Abstract

Abstract:

Liquid-liquid phase separation, and the resulted solute segregation, during conventional solidification have been a long-term challenge to produce copper (Cu)-iron (Fe) immiscible composites with high strength and high conductivity. The present work reports an effective solution to this issue through laser powder bed fusion (L-PBF) in-situ alloying of Cu-8 wt.% Fe. Microstructure observation showed that the fast cooling within micron-scale melt pools fully eliminated the Fe segregation and therefore the L-PBF fabricated nanocomposite achieved the homogeneous microstructure, which featured equiaxed fine grains around 1 µm in size. Ageing of the nanocomposite at 600°C for 1 h enabled precipitation of two types of nanoparticles. One is coarser Fe nanoprecipitates with body-centered cubic (BCC) structure and diameter of 100-300 nm, mainly distributing along grain boundaries. The other is smaller Fe nanoprecipitates with face-centered cubic (FCC) structure and diameter of 10-35 nm, being observed within the grains and having coherent interfaces with the Cu matrix. As a result, the aged Cu-Fe nanocomposite achieved tensile strength of 462.9±6.6 MPa with 30.4%±1.7% elongation to failure and 74.5% IACS (International Annealed Copper Standard) electrical conductivity. The formation mechanisms of the nanoprecipitates and the strengthening mechanisms of the nanocomposite are discussed.

Key words: Immiscible alloy, Copper, Laser powder bed fusion, Ageing, Nanocomposite

Yingang Liu, Jingqi Zhang, Qiang Sun, Meng Li, Ming Yan, Xing Cheng, Miaoquan Li, Ming-Xing Zhang. Laser powder bed fusion of copper matrix iron particle reinforced nanocomposite with high strength and high conductivity[J]. J. Mater. Sci. Technol., 2023, 134: 50-59.

Figures/Tables 12

Fig. 1. SEM micrographs showing the powder morphology of Cu powder (a) and 8 wt.% Fe doped Cu powder mixture (b); (c) High magnification showing the area in the dotted frame in (b); (d) Laser reflectivity of pure Cu powder and Fe doped Cu powder mixtures.

Fig. 2. Micro-CT characterization and EBSD analysis of the L-PBF fabricated pure Cu and Cu-Fe nanocomposite: (a) Micro-CT 3D image of pure Cu; (b) Micro-CT 3D image of Cu-Fe nanocomposite; (c) Inverse pole figure (IPF) map and corresponding pole figure of pure Cu; (d) IPF map and corresponding pole figure of Cu-Fe nanocomposite.

Fig. 3. EDS elementary mapping of Cu (a) and Fe (b) in the L-PBF fabricated Cu-Fe nanocomposite.

Fig. 4. SEM-BSE images showing the nanoparticles at the middle (a) and the topmost surface (b) of the L-PBF fabricated Cu-Fe nanocomposite.

Fig. 5. XRD diffraction spectra of pure Cu, the L-PBF fabricated and aged Cu-Fe nanocomposite.

Fig. 6. TEM and HRTEM images of the L-PBF fabricated Cu-Fe nanocomposite: (a) Bright-field TEM image; (b, c) HADDF-STEM image and EDS elementary mapping of Fe corresponding to (a); (d, e) Selected area electron diffraction (SAED) pattern and HRTEM image corresponding to the white frame region in (a) and (b); (f) High magnification HRTEM image corresponding to the phase interface region in (e).

Fig. 7. Micro-CT 3D image (a) and IPF map (b) of the L-PBF fabricated Cu-3 wt.% Fe.

Fig. 8. TKD mapping showing the larger Fe nanoparticles in the L-PBF fabricated Cu-Fe nanocomposite: (a) Band contrast map; (b) Phase map, red colour corresponding to FCC phase and yellow colour corresponding to BCC phase; (c) Inverse pole figure (IPF) map.

Fig. 9. TEM and HRTEM images of the aged Cu-Fe nanocomposite: (a) HADDF-STEM image; (b, c) EDS elementary mapping of Cu and Fe corresponding to (a); (d) HRTEM image corresponding to the white frame region in (a)-(c) and the insert showing the SAED pattern; (e, f) High magnification HRTEM images corresponding to the white frame regions I and II in (d), respectively.

Fig. 10. TEM images of the aged Cu-Fe nanocomposite showing the BCC-Fe nanoparticles: (a) HADDF-STEM image; (b, c) EDS elementary mapping of Cu and Fe corresponding to (a); (d) High magnification bright-field TEM image showing the BCC-Fe nanoparticle; (e) HRTEM image corresponding to the dotted frame in (d).

Fig. 11. Mechanical properties and fractography of pure Cu, the L-PBF fabricated and aged Cu-Fe nanocomposite: (a) Representative tensile stress-strain curves; (b) Comparison of the mechanical properties of the aged Cu-Fe nanocomposite with previously published results; (c-e) Fracture surface morphologies of the L-PBF fabricated pure Cu, the L-PBF fabricated and aged Cu-Fe nanocomposite, respectively.

Table 1. Tensile properties and electrical conductivity of pure Cu, the L-PBF fabricated and aged Cu-Fe nanocomposite.

Samples	Yield strength (MPa)	Ultimate tensile strength (MPa)	Elongation to failure (%)	Electrical conductivity (%) IACS
Pure Cu	73.3±2.1	120.9±1.4	10.8±1.1	88.3
Cu-Fe nanocomposite	256.5±5.6	401.9±4.3	30.4±1.3	13.5
Aged Cu-Fe nanocomposite	294.1±4.6	462.9±6.6	30.4±1.7	74.5

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