Achieving an ultrastrong yet ductile copper alloy via microstructural heterogeneity with dense ordered nanoprecipitates

Cast Al-containing cupronickel alloys are strong, corrosion resistant and anti-bio fouling, yet suffering from poor ductility due to intergranular brittle phase and inhomogeneous intragranular precipitation. Here, we employ industrial accessible powder hot extrusion to achieve an ultrafine hierarchi...

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Main Authors: Rui Zhong, Weiwen Zhang, Chao Zhao, Zongqiang Luo, Haokai Dong
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Taylor & Francis Group 2025-08-01
Series:Materials Research Letters
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Online Access:https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/21663831.2025.2526101
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author Rui Zhong
Weiwen Zhang
Chao Zhao
Zongqiang Luo
Haokai Dong
author_facet Rui Zhong
Weiwen Zhang
Chao Zhao
Zongqiang Luo
Haokai Dong
author_sort Rui Zhong
collection DOAJ
description Cast Al-containing cupronickel alloys are strong, corrosion resistant and anti-bio fouling, yet suffering from poor ductility due to intergranular brittle phase and inhomogeneous intragranular precipitation. Here, we employ industrial accessible powder hot extrusion to achieve an ultrafine hierarchically microstructural tailoring of a Cu-17Ni-3Al based alloy, enabling an unprecedented strength-ductility combination (1.1 GPa ultimate strength with 21% elongation). The exceptional mechanical property is resulted from the homogeneous L12 nanoprecipitates and heterogeneous matrix created by the interactions between fragmented G phase and dynamic recrystallization. These findings highlight the potential of heterostructure engineering with ordered nanoprecipitates for optimizing mechanical performance of Cu alloys.
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series Materials Research Letters
spelling doaj-art-dcfc9910cd974bb6a9348c9809470faf2025-08-20T03:41:04ZengTaylor & Francis GroupMaterials Research Letters2166-38312025-08-0113887588410.1080/21663831.2025.2526101Achieving an ultrastrong yet ductile copper alloy via microstructural heterogeneity with dense ordered nanoprecipitatesRui Zhong0Weiwen Zhang1Chao Zhao2Zongqiang Luo3Haokai Dong4State Key Laboratory of Advanced Marine Materials, Ningbo Institute of Materials Technology and Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Ningbo, People’s Republic of ChinaGuangdong Provincial Key Laboratory for Processing and Forming of Advanced Metallic Materials, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou, People’s Republic of ChinaSchool of Materials Science and Engineering, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, People’s Republic of ChinaGuangdong Provincial Key Laboratory for Processing and Forming of Advanced Metallic Materials, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou, People’s Republic of ChinaState Key Laboratory of Advanced Marine Materials, Ningbo Institute of Materials Technology and Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Ningbo, People’s Republic of ChinaCast Al-containing cupronickel alloys are strong, corrosion resistant and anti-bio fouling, yet suffering from poor ductility due to intergranular brittle phase and inhomogeneous intragranular precipitation. Here, we employ industrial accessible powder hot extrusion to achieve an ultrafine hierarchically microstructural tailoring of a Cu-17Ni-3Al based alloy, enabling an unprecedented strength-ductility combination (1.1 GPa ultimate strength with 21% elongation). The exceptional mechanical property is resulted from the homogeneous L12 nanoprecipitates and heterogeneous matrix created by the interactions between fragmented G phase and dynamic recrystallization. These findings highlight the potential of heterostructure engineering with ordered nanoprecipitates for optimizing mechanical performance of Cu alloys.https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/21663831.2025.2526101Cu–Ni–Al alloyheterogeneous microstructurepowder hot extrusionL12 nanoprecipitatesHDI hardening
spellingShingle Rui Zhong
Weiwen Zhang
Chao Zhao
Zongqiang Luo
Haokai Dong
Achieving an ultrastrong yet ductile copper alloy via microstructural heterogeneity with dense ordered nanoprecipitates
Materials Research Letters
Cu–Ni–Al alloy
heterogeneous microstructure
powder hot extrusion
L12 nanoprecipitates
HDI hardening
title Achieving an ultrastrong yet ductile copper alloy via microstructural heterogeneity with dense ordered nanoprecipitates
title_full Achieving an ultrastrong yet ductile copper alloy via microstructural heterogeneity with dense ordered nanoprecipitates
title_fullStr Achieving an ultrastrong yet ductile copper alloy via microstructural heterogeneity with dense ordered nanoprecipitates
title_full_unstemmed Achieving an ultrastrong yet ductile copper alloy via microstructural heterogeneity with dense ordered nanoprecipitates
title_short Achieving an ultrastrong yet ductile copper alloy via microstructural heterogeneity with dense ordered nanoprecipitates
title_sort achieving an ultrastrong yet ductile copper alloy via microstructural heterogeneity with dense ordered nanoprecipitates
topic Cu–Ni–Al alloy
heterogeneous microstructure
powder hot extrusion
L12 nanoprecipitates
HDI hardening
url https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/21663831.2025.2526101
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AT weiwenzhang achievinganultrastrongyetductilecopperalloyviamicrostructuralheterogeneitywithdenseorderednanoprecipitates
AT chaozhao achievinganultrastrongyetductilecopperalloyviamicrostructuralheterogeneitywithdenseorderednanoprecipitates
AT zongqiangluo achievinganultrastrongyetductilecopperalloyviamicrostructuralheterogeneitywithdenseorderednanoprecipitates
AT haokaidong achievinganultrastrongyetductilecopperalloyviamicrostructuralheterogeneitywithdenseorderednanoprecipitates