Characteristics of the continuous coarsening and discontinuous coarsening of spinodally decomposed Cu-Ni-Fe alloy

The spinodal decomposition and coarsening reaction of a 45Cu-30Ni-25Fe alloy aged with and without prior 75% cold rolling have been studied by Vickers hardness tester, X-ray diffraction, optical microscope, and scanning and transmission electron microscopes. Spinodal decomposition took place in the alloys aged in the temperature range of 600–950°C without prior deformation, and then spinodal structure in these alloys would coarsen only continuously. Spinodal decomposition and continuous coarsening reaction of spinodal structure took place in the alloys aged at lower temperature with prior deformation. This process was corresponding to recovery of spinodal structure in the deformed alloys. Discontinuous coarsening reaction of spinodal structure would also take place in the alloys aged at higher temperature with prior deformation. This process was corresponding to recrystallization of spinodal structure in the deformed alloys.