Obtaining Cu/Nb heterostructured sheets with mechanical and functional properties optmized

Abstract

A great strength increase in metals and alloys is usually followed by a dramatic reduction in ductility and toughness. In recent decades, Severe Plastic Deformation (SPD) processes have been extensively studied to produce nanocrystalline and ultrafine-grained materials with superior mechanical strength, but limited ductility has restricted their practical applications. Thus, the main current challenge is to design new microstructures that restore an acceptable level of ductility in these materials, which could be possible through Heterogeneous Materials (HM) development. The presence of heterogeneous domains in HM - and the interaction between them during plastic deformation - results in a synergistic effect, in which the resulting set of properties exceeds that predicted by the linear rule of mixtures. Then, this research aims to obtain Cu/Nb HM sheets through accumulative-roll bonding (ARB) process. This development is aimed at applications in the electrical, thermal and nuclear industries, as they are considered candidates for manufacturing conductive devices under intense mechanical stress, such as high voltage cables, heat sinks and superconducting magnet wires used in particle accelerators. The planned activities include experiments to obtain clads in a single pass and the production of nanostructured multilayered sheets with different architectures, with microstructure characterizations and correlation with mechanical and/or functional properties. The development of these HM by DPS processes can constitute one of the great innovations for the application of new materials, with great potential to be scaled up for industrial production and applicable in several sectors. (AU)