Achieving high strength and high-electrical-conductivity of Cu-Ni-Si alloys via regulating nanoprecipitation behavior through simplified process

Overcoming the tradeoff between mechanical strength and electrical conductivity is a long-standing challenge in developing advanced copper alloys for industrial applications. Herein, we report a new strategy to obtain high strength and good conductivity of Cu-Ni-Si-Ca alloy by introducing and regulating the discontinuous precipitation (DP) and continuous precipitation (CP) behaviors. The DP process combined with thermomechanical treatment was exploited to expedite the precipitation kinetics, whilst the competition between DP and CP was utilized to inhibit the nucleation and growth of continuous precipitation phase (CPP). The resultant copper alloy exhibits superior comprehensive properties with a yield strength of 956 MPa, fracture strength of 989 MPa, and electrical conductivity of 34.1% IACS. The improved electrical conductivity is attributed to the heterogeneous-nucleation dominant DP, while the high strength stems from the combination of strain hardening and precipitation strengthening of δ-Ni₂Si and t-Ni₃Si precipitates. Notably, the precipitation strengthening arises from both the dislocation passing and cutting mechanisms, with the strongly ordered DO₂₂-type (t-Ni₃Si) phase contributing approximately 202 MPa to the overall strength through the cutting mechanism. This work offers a new pathway for alloy design of high-strength and high-electrical-conductivity copper alloys, by regulating coherent ordered nanoprecipitates through DP and CP.