Texture Evolution and Mechanical Properties of Copper/Niobium Laminated Composite Processed Through Accumulative Roll Bonding and Intermediate Annealing

Cu-Nb composites, among the realm of metallic composites, have gained significant attention across diverse applications. Intermediate annealing in Cu-Nb composites has not been studied systematically for its effects on different properties. In this research, the effects of accumulative roll bonding (ARB) and intermediate annealing on texture evolution and mechanical properties of Cu-Nb composites were investigated. Two groups of Cu-Nb composites were subjected to ARB up to four passes. Intermediate annealing at 500 °C for 5 min was applied to the specimens in the first group after each rolling pass, while their counterparts in the second group did not undergo any annealing. After the ARB processing, the mechanical properties in the processed composites were evaluated using tensile and microhardness tests. X-ray diffraction (XRD) and electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) analyses were performed on the specimens to investigate the macrotexture and microtexture evolution. Studying the microstructure revealed that increasing the ARB passes decreased the thickness of Cu and Nb layers significantly. The work hardening of Cu and Nb layers with ARB passes led to an increase in the tensile and yield strength of the prepared composites. Texture analysis showed that increasing the ARB passes caused texture weakening with homogeneous texture evolution in the Cu-Nb composite. EBSD evaluation indicated that by increasing the ARB passes, the necklace structure was diminished, which resulted in improving the microhardness and tensile properties of the composite.