Abstract

The tradeoff between the strength and the fracture elongation in the high-strength Cu–Ni–Si alloy became a hot research topic recently. Cu–Ni–Si–(Ti) alloys were fabricated in a vacuum induction melting furnace to study the effects of titanium on the microstructure and mechanical properties of Cu–Ni–Si alloys with different thermo-mechanical treatments. After homogenization at 900 °C for 4 h, hot-rolled by 80%, solution treatment at 970 °C for 2 h, cold-rolled by 50%, and finally aged at 450 °C for 180 min, the studied Cu–10Ni–Si–2Ti alloy achieved the hardness of HV 252.4, electrical conductivity of 23.6% IACS, tensile strength of 764.4 MPa, yield strength of 622.26 MPa, fracture elongation of 10.4%, and strength-elongation product of 7.95 GPa%, which are less than those of the studied Cu–10Ni–2Si alloy. The addition of Ti contributed to refining the microstructure, suppressing the decreasing trend in mechanical properties after peak hardening, and arousing a primary substructure strengthening mechanism rather than the precipitation strengthening in Cu–Ni–Si alloys. These findings provide essential understandings of the effects of the Ti on Cu–Ni–Si system alloys, and the designed Cu–Ni–Si alloys with high-strength and fracture elongation could fulfill some requirements of the electronic and electrical industry.

Graphic abstract