A Cu-Cr alloy with nano and microscale Cr particles produced in a water-cooled copper mold

Microstructures have profound effects on the hardness and strength of Cu-Cr alloys. The microstructures of a Cu-Cr alloy cast in a water-cooled copper mold were studied in the present work. The scanning electron microscopy (SEM) results show that there are the copper matrix saturated with chromium, spherical precipitates of chromium separated from liquid phase during cooling before the initiation of solidification, and a eutectic phase in grain boundary areas. To investigate the effect of age-hardening treatment on the microstructures and properties of the material, some samples were subsequently age-hardened in a salt bath and investigated by transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The results show that coherent precipitates with the diameter of 11 nm are detectable in the samples before and after the age-hardening stage. Of course, the volume fraction of coherent precipitates is higher after the aging process.