Effect of Zr Addition on Microstructure and Mechanical Properties of Cu-15Ni-8Sn Alloy
Citations
LE Shuncong,YU Qi,ZHANG Jinhan,ZHANG Pengfei,XI Anwu,ZHONG Fangyou,HU Yanbo,LIU Qiyang. Effect of Zr addition on microstructure and mechanical properties of Cu-15Ni-8Sn alloy [J]. Copper Engineering,2026(2):10-19.
1.JCC Processing Business Division,Nanchang330096,China
2.JCC Copper Strip Company Limited,Nanchang330096,China
Citations
LE Shuncong,YU Qi,ZHANG Jinhan,ZHANG Pengfei,XI Anwu,ZHONG Fangyou,HU Yanbo,LIU Qiyang. Effect of Zr addition on microstructure and mechanical properties of Cu-15Ni-8Sn alloy [J]. Copper Engineering,2026(2):10-19.
Abstract
Beryllium bronze faces limitations in production and application due to high manufacturing costs, complex processing, and toxic dust. In contrast, Cu-15Ni-8Sn alloy has emerged as an ideal alternative material owing to excellent comprehensive properties. This study systematically investigated the influence of 0.8% (mass fraction) Zr addition on the microstructural evolution and mechanical properties of Cu-15Ni-8Sn alloy. Results demonstrated that the as-cast alloy exhibited a dendritic structure, primarily composed of α-Cu matrix, γ-CuNi2Sn phase, and skeletal/particulate Ni4SnZr phases. After solution treatment, the dendritic structure was eliminated, with the Ni4SnZr phase retained due to thermodynamic stability, while CuNi2Sn phase completely dissolved. Aging behavior studies revealed that the alloy's hardness initially increased and then decreased with aging time. The decline was primarily attributed to the formation of discontinuous precipitation. Moreover, higher aging temperatures accelerated discontinuous precipitation, leading to reduced peak hardness. Cold rolling significantly modulated microstructural evolution: a 78% cold deformation rate suppressed discontinuous precipitation while promoting the precipitation of ordered phases, achieving a peak hardness of 383HV after aging at 400 ℃ for 1 h. However, 90% deformation induced recrystallization softening, causing hardness to decrease to 378.5HV.
铍青铜是一种沉淀硬化型弹性合金,具有优异的力学性能和加工性能,可应用于信号开关、电连接器、继电器等弹性元件。然而,铍青铜生产成本高、工艺复杂,使用过程中易发生开裂和脆断,加之铍的氧化物和含铍粉尘具有毒性,极大地限制了该合金的生产和应用[ MITCHELL M R. New developments in copper-beryllium alloys for electronic applications[J]. Journal of the Minerals,Metals and Materials Society,2000,52:29-35. 吴少鹏,王东新,罗文,等. 铍铜合金微观组织及性能调控的研究现状[J]. 铜业工程,2025(3):53-63. JOW J J. The environmental health and safety of beryllium oxide ceramics[R]. Cupertino,California:US Department of Energy,2001. LEE K E,KING J E,CANDY A C. Effect of strain rate and temperature on the strength of copper-beryllium alloys[J]. Materials Science and Engineering A,2002,333:154-162. 1-4]。Cu-Ni-Sn系合金性能与铍青铜相当,但生产成本更低且无污染,热稳定性和抗腐蚀性也更优[ SCOREY C R,CHIN S,WHITE M J,et al. Spinodal Cu-Ni-Sn alloys for electronic applications[J]. Journal of Metals,1984,36(11):52-54. PLEWES J T. High-strength Cu-Ni-Sn alloys by thermomechanical processing[J]. Metallurgical Transactions A,1975,6(3):537-544. CRIBB W R,RATKA J O. New technology enables production of larger copper parts with the high-strength spinodal structure[J]. Advanced Materials and Processes,2002,160(11):27-30. FINDIK F. Improvements in spinodal alloys from past to present[J]. Materials & Design,2012,42:131-146. 5-8]。近年来,Cu-Ni-Sn系合金在航空航天、电子信息、国防军工等领域得到广泛应用,发展潜力巨大,呈现出逐步取代铍青铜的趋势。
Cu-15Ni-8Sn合金作为一种高强高弹导电铜合金,加工性能良好,并具备优异的耐磨、耐腐蚀和抗应力松弛特性,能满足高载荷、强腐蚀环境下轴承、轴套等器件的使用要求。因此,研究其组织与性能对推动产业化具有重要意义。该合金属于典型的时效强化型合金[ ZHAO J C,NOTIS M R. Spinodal decomposition,ordering transformation,and discontinuous precipitation in a Cu-15Ni-8Sn alloy[J]. Acta Materialia,1998,46(12):4203-4218. 9]。研究表明,其优异性能源于时效初期过饱和固溶体发生调幅分解,形成由纳米级富Sn区与贫Sn区组成的调幅组织。随时效时间延长,调幅组织粗化,会在富Sn区析出与基体共格的γ-DO22[(CuxNi1-x)3Sn]亚稳有序相,并在γ-DO22有序相与α铜基体界面处形成γ-L12[(CuxNi1-x)3Sn]有序相[ ZHOU Y J,YANG W H,YANG S D,et al. Ordered phase transformation and nanotwin formation of Cu-15Ni-8Sn-0.2Nb alloy induced by cold deformation aging to achieve ultra-high strength and good plasticity[J]. Materials Science and Engineering:A,2025,944:148894. 10]。这种由微小弥散有序沉淀物强化的调制基体结构,被认为是实现高强度与良好延展性的关键。然而,当时效时间进一步延长至后期,晶界处会析出不连续沉淀组织并迅速长大,最终覆盖整个基体,导致合金力学性能和服役性能衰退,制约其工程应用。因此,抑制不连续沉淀形成、提高合金力学性能至关重要。不连续沉淀组织的形成被广泛认为源于晶界无序结构和冷变形引入的残余应力所导致的高能态。
微合金元素在Cu-15Ni-8Sn合金中主要通过固溶、偏聚和沉淀三种机制发挥作用。例如,添加适量P元素能在Cu-15Ni-8Sn合金中形成Ni10SnP3相,可细化晶粒、改善枝晶偏析,并有效抑制时效过程中不连续沉淀的形成[ GUO C J,SHI Y F,CHEN J S,et al. Effects of P addition on spinodal decomposition and discontinuous precipitation in Cu-15Ni-8Sn alloy[J]. Materials Characterization,2021,171:110760. 11]。类似地,微量添加Ti[ ZHAO C,WANG Z,PAN D Q,et al. Effect of Si and Ti on dynamic recrystallization of high-performance Cu-15Ni-8Sn alloy during hot deformation[J]. Transactions of Nonferrous Metals Society of China,2019,29(12):2556-2565. 12],Co[ GUO C J,CHEN J S,XIAO X P,et al. The effect of Co addition on the modulated structure coarsening and discontinuous precipitation growth kinetics of Cu-15Ni-8Sn alloy[J]. Journal of Alloys and Compounds,2020,835(9):155275. 13],Fe[ GUO C J,WAN J,CHEN J S,et al. Inhibition of discontinuous precipitation and enhanced properties of Cu-15Ni-8Sn alloy with Fe addition[J]. Materials Science and Engineering:A,2020,795:139917. 14],V[ GUO Z K,JIE J C,LIU S C,et al. Effect of V addition on microstructures and mechanical properties of Cu-15Ni-8Sn alloy[J]. Materials Science and Engineering:A,2019,748:85-94. 15],Zr[ ZHANG J J,LIU Z Y,GUO Z K,et al. Effects of Zr on microstructural evolution and mechanical property of Cu-15Ni-8Sn alloy[J]. Materials Science and Engineering:A,2022,831:142287. 16],Si[ MIKI M,OGINO Y. Effect of Si addition on the cellular precipitation in a Cu-10Ni-8Sn alloy[J]. Materials Transactions,JIM,1990,31(11):968-974. MIKI M,OGINO Y. Influence of solution-treatment conditions on the cellular precipitation in Si-doped Cu-10Ni-8Sn alloy[J]. Materials Transactions,JIM,1991,32(12):1135-1140. YU Q X,LI X N,WEI K R,et al. Cu-Ni-Sn-Si alloys designed by cluster-plus-glue-atom model[J]. Materials & Design,2019,167:107641. 17-19],Nb[ GAO M Q,CHEN Z N,KANG H J,et al. Effects of Nb addition on the microstructures and mechanical properties of a precipitation hardening Cu-9Ni-6Sn alloy[J]. Materials Science and Engineering:A,2018,715:340-347. 20],Y[ CHENG J J,GAO Y,ZHANG Z Y,et al. Effect of yttrium on the cellular precipitation kinetics,grain growth behavior and mechanical properties of high strength Cu-15Ni-8Sn alloy[J]. Journal of Alloys and Compounds,2022,918:165408. 21],Ag[ 乐顺聪,黄剑,郭诚君,等. 添加Ag对Cu-15Ni-8Sn合金组织及性能的影响[J]. 铜业工程,2022(2):13-17. 22]等金属元素也被证实能有效抑制不连续沉淀的析出。Zhang等[ ZHANG J J,LIU Z Y,GUO Z K,et al. Effects of Zr on microstructural evolution and mechanical property of Cu-15Ni-8Sn alloy[J]. Materials Science and Engineering:A,2022,831:142287. 16]研究了Zr添加对Cu-15Ni-8Sn合金组织及性能的影响,结果发现,当Zr质量分数低至0.1%时,其原子完全固溶于α基体中。随着Zr含量增加至0.3%和0.5%,Zr的存在形式由纳米级析出相(Ni5Zr)转变为微米级偏析相(Ni4SnZr)。可见,添加Zr可抑制不连续析出相(DP)的形核和长大,显著延长合金的时效窗口,提高合金的力学性能。研究表明,即使Zr添加量为0.65%(质量分数),其对不连续沉淀的抑制作用依旧有效。然而,对于更高Zr含量的添加情况尚未进行深入研究。基于此,本文研究了0.8%(质量分数)Zr添加对Cu-15Ni-8Sn合金组织及性能的影响。并阐明Zr添加对铸态组织、固溶态组织、不连续沉淀形成以及力学性能的影响。
1 试验
以电解铜板(≥99.95%)、电解镍板(99.95%)、工业纯锡(99.95%)和纯锆颗粒(99.99%)为原料。首先,在氩气保护气氛下,使用真空感应熔炼炉进行熔炼,熔化温度控制在1300 ℃左右,保温8 min,随后浇注至石墨模具中,制备得到Cu-15Ni-8Sn-0.8Zr合金铸锭。铸锭经多道次冷轧至30%变形量后(每道次的变形量为0.3 mm),在850 ℃下进行12 h均匀化退火处理并水冷[ LIAO Y H,XIE M W,CHEN H M,et al. Thermodynamics and kinetics of discontinuous precipitation in Cu-9Ni-xSn alloy[J]. Journal of Alloys and Compounds,2020,827:154314. 23],随后采用两种不同的工艺方案制备该合金:第一种方案是将退火后的试样分别在400 ℃和450 ℃下直接进行时效处理; 第二种方案则是将退火试样分别进行30%,50%,78%和90%的冷轧处理后,再进行400 ℃的时效处理。具体工艺流程见图1。
图1 铸态Cu-15Ni-8Sn-0.8Zr合金制备流程示意图
Fig. 1 Schematic diagram of the preparation of as-cast Cu-15Ni-8Sn-0.8Zr alloy
铸态、固溶态及时效态试样的显微组织观察分别采用Axioskop 2型光学显微镜(OM,ZEISS)和Mira3 LMH型扫描电子显微镜(SEM,TESCAN)。OM与SEM样品制备步骤如下:依次使用800#,1200#,1500#和2000#SiC砂纸打磨并机械抛光后,采用腐蚀液(1 g FeCl3+80 mL HCl+100 mL H2O)浸蚀,最后用去离子水冲洗并干燥。
采用X射线荧光光谱仪(XRF-1800)测定合金铸锭的化学成分。
使用配备能量色散光谱仪(EDS)的场发射扫描电子显微镜(SEM,Zeiss Supra 55)对从铸锭中心区域切割的金相样品进行微区形貌观察及成分点分析。SEM样品需经研磨、抛光,并使用蚀刻液(95 mL C2H5OH+5 mL HCl+5 g FeCl3)进行腐蚀。
Fig. 5 Images of (a) OM,(b) SEM,(c) Magnified images of (b) and (d) energy dispersive spectroscopy analysis results of Cu-15Ni-8Sn-0.8Zr alloy after solution treatment
图6 Cu-15Ni-8Sn-0.8Zr合金固溶处理后的XRD 图谱
Fig. 6 XRD pattern of Cu-15Ni-8Sn-0.8Zr alloy after solution treatment
Fig. 7 Microstructure of Cu-15Ni-8Sn-0.8Zr alloy after solution treatment:(a,b,d) TEM images; (c) SAED pattern of the red circle area in (b); (e) EDS point analysis results of the red circle area in (b)
Fig. 8 Microstructure images of Cu-15Ni-8Sn-0.8Zr alloy aged at (a1~d1) 400 ℃ and (a2~d2) 450 ℃ for different time
2.4 “固溶+时效”处理工艺显微硬度变化
图9展示了Cu-15Ni-8Sn-0.8Zr合金分别在400 ℃和450 ℃时效不同时间后的维氏硬度变化曲线。如图所示,在两种时效温度下,合金硬度均呈现典型的时效硬化特征:初期硬度快速上升达到峰值,随后逐渐下降并最终趋于稳定。时效初期,合金经历调幅分解,形成由富Sn溶质原子和贫Sn溶质原子交替组成的调幅组织。紧接着发生有序化转变,形成DO22和L12两种有序相。这些有序相与铜基体保持着完全共格关系,其诱发的弹性应变场能显著抑制位错运动,成为合金获得硬化的关键机制。然而,随着时效时间延长,晶界处会发生不连续析出反应,如图8所示。由此产生的粗大胞状不连续沉淀组织,将严重损害合金的力学性能,导致显微硬度显著下降[ GUO C J,CHEN J S,XIAO X P,et al. The effect of Co addition on the modulated structure coarsening and discontinuous precipitation growth kinetics of Cu-15Ni-8Sn alloy[J]. Journal of Alloys and Compounds,2020,835(9):155275. 13, 齐昭铭,许华本,乐顺聪,等. 稀土元素镧对Cu-15Ni-8Sn合金组织及性能的影响[J]. 有色金属科学与工程,2023,14(4):569-579. 25]。
图9 Cu-15Ni-8Sn-0.8Zr合金分别在400 ℃和450 ℃时效不同时间的硬度曲线
Fig. 9 Hardness curves of Cu-15Ni-8Sn-0.8Zr alloy aged at 400 ℃ and 450 ℃ for different time periods
MITCHELLM R. New developments in copper-beryllium alloys for electronic applications[J]. Journal of the Minerals,Metals and Materials Society,2000,52:29-35.
JOWJ J. The environmental health and safety of beryllium oxide ceramics[R]. Cupertino,California:US Department of Energy,2001.
[4]
LEEK E,KINGJ E,CANDYA C. Effect of strain rate and temperature on the strength of copper-beryllium alloys[J]. Materials Science and Engineering A,2002,333:154-162.
[5]
SCOREYC R,CHINS,WHITEM J,et al. Spinodal Cu-Ni-Sn alloys for electronic applications[J]. Journal of Metals,1984,36(11):52-54.
[6]
PLEWESJ T. High-strength Cu-Ni-Sn alloys by thermomechanical processing[J]. Metallurgical Transactions A,1975,6(3):537-544.
[7]
CRIBBW R,RATKAJ O. New technology enables production of larger copper parts with the high-strength spinodal structure[J]. Advanced Materials and Processes,2002,160(11):27-30.
[8]
FINDIKF. Improvements in spinodal alloys from past to present[J]. Materials & Design,2012,42:131-146.
[9]
ZHAOJ C,NOTISM R. Spinodal decomposition,ordering transformation,and discontinuous precipitation in a Cu-15Ni-8Sn alloy[J]. Acta Materialia,1998,46(12):4203-4218.
[10]
ZHOUY J,YANGW H,YANGS D,et al. Ordered phase transformation and nanotwin formation of Cu-15Ni-8Sn-0.2Nb alloy induced by cold deformation aging to achieve ultra-high strength and good plasticity[J]. Materials Science and Engineering:A,2025,944:148894.
[11]
GUOC J,SHIY F,CHENJ S,et al. Effects of P addition on spinodal decomposition and discontinuous precipitation in Cu-15Ni-8Sn alloy[J]. Materials Characterization,2021,171:110760.
[12]
ZHAOC,WANGZ,PAND Q,et al. Effect of Si and Ti on dynamic recrystallization of high-performance Cu-15Ni-8Sn alloy during hot deformation[J]. Transactions of Nonferrous Metals Society of China,2019,29(12):2556-2565.
[13]
GUOC J,CHENJ S,XIAOX P,et al. The effect of Co addition on the modulated structure coarsening and discontinuous precipitation growth kinetics of Cu-15Ni-8Sn alloy[J]. Journal of Alloys and Compounds,2020,835(9):155275.
[14]
GUOC J,WANJ,CHENJ S,et al. Inhibition of discontinuous precipitation and enhanced properties of Cu-15Ni-8Sn alloy with Fe addition[J]. Materials Science and Engineering:A,2020,795:139917.
[15]
GUOZ K,JIEJ C,LIUS C,et al. Effect of V addition on microstructures and mechanical properties of Cu-15Ni-8Sn alloy[J]. Materials Science and Engineering:A,2019,748:85-94.
[16]
ZHANGJ J,LIUZ Y,GUOZ K,et al. Effects of Zr on microstructural evolution and mechanical property of Cu-15Ni-8Sn alloy[J]. Materials Science and Engineering:A,2022,831:142287.
[17]
MIKIM,OGINOY. Effect of Si addition on the cellular precipitation in a Cu-10Ni-8Sn alloy[J]. Materials Transactions,JIM,1990,31(11):968-974.
[18]
MIKIM,OGINOY. Influence of solution-treatment conditions on the cellular precipitation in Si-doped Cu-10Ni-8Sn alloy[J]. Materials Transactions,JIM,1991,32(12):1135-1140.
[19]
YUQ X,LIX N,WEIK R,et al. Cu-Ni-Sn-Si alloys designed by cluster-plus-glue-atom model[J]. Materials & Design,2019,167:107641.
[20]
GAOM Q,CHENZ N,KANGH J,et al. Effects of Nb addition on the microstructures and mechanical properties of a precipitation hardening Cu-9Ni-6Sn alloy[J]. Materials Science and Engineering:A,2018,715:340-347.
[21]
CHENGJ J,GAOY,ZHANGZ Y,et al. Effect of yttrium on the cellular precipitation kinetics,grain growth behavior and mechanical properties of high strength Cu-15Ni-8Sn alloy[J]. Journal of Alloys and Compounds,2022,918:165408.
LIAOY H,XIEM W,CHENH M,et al. Thermodynamics and kinetics of discontinuous precipitation in Cu-9Ni-xSn alloy[J]. Journal of Alloys and Compounds,2020,827:154314.