Influence of degree of deformation in rolling on anneal hardening effect of a cast copper alloy

This paper reports results of investigations carried out on a cast copper alloy containing 8 at.% Al. The alloy, and pure copper for the sake of comparison, were subjected to cold rolling with a final reduction of 30, 50 or 70%. The cold rolled copper and copper alloy samples were isochronally and isothermally annealed up to the recrystallization temperature. The hardness, strength and electrical conductivity were measured and X-ray and DSC analyses performed. Anneal hardening effect was observed in the alloy in the temperature range 180–300°C, followed by an increase in the electrical conductivity. The amount of strengthening increases with increasing degree of prior cold work. The X-ray analysis shows a change in the lattice parameter during annealing when anneal hardening effect was observed. The DSC analysis shows the exothermic character of this effect.