Abstract: Phases of Cu-(0.4%–2.0%) Cr-(0.05%–0.16%) Zr alloys were analyzed in both as cast and deformed state. Solute-rich clusters of Cr, which was supposed to form during aging treatment, were observed in as cast state; along with the morphology character, corresponding preferential orientation of Cr phase in as cast state was also investigated. Precipitates were observed to distribute in the matrix with a bimodal distribution, viz. coarse precipitates with dimension larger than several hundred nanometers and fine precipitates with size of 2– 10 nm. Three types of intermetallics, the common compound of Cu51Zr14, correspondingly infrequent Cu5Zr and rare Cu8Zr3, were characterized in different samples.

Key words: Cu-Cr-Zr alloy, Solute-rich cluster, Intermetallic compound, Microstructure