Multifunctional properties of composition graded Al wires

TL;DR

This study explores composition graded AlMgSi wires, demonstrating that their microstructural gradients lead to enhanced electrical and mechanical properties beyond traditional mixture predictions.

Contribution

It introduces a method to produce composition graded Al wires with improved combined electrical and torsion strength properties.

Findings

Microstructural gradients with nanoscaled precipitates were characterized.

Graded wires showed better electrical and mechanical performance than classical models.

Nano-indentation revealed local hardening responses to precipitation treatments.

Abstract

The potentiality of composition graded AlMgSi wires for optimized combination of electrical conductivity and torsion strength has been investigated. Composition graded wires were obtained by co-drawing commercially pure Al with an AlMgSi alloy followed by diffusion annealing. Diffusion gradients and local hardening response to precipitation treatments were evaluated thanks to nano-indentation measurements. Resulting microstructures with spatial gradients of nanoscaled precipitates were characterized by transmission electron microscopy. Finally, it is shown that such graded structures give rise to an improved combination of electrical conductivity and mechanical strength in torsion as compared to the predictions based on a classical rule of mixture.