Ageing behavior of Cu-Ag alloys

To develop Cu alloy with tensile strength of 800 MPa and electrical conductivity of 80 %IACS (International Annealed Copper Standard), the variation of mechanical strength and electrical conductivity in Cu-Ag alloy during fabrication processes including casting, solid solution and ageing treatment were investigated. Solid solution hardening leads to a large drop in electrical conductivity of Cu-Ag alloys due to super-saturation of Ag solute in Cu matrix. Ageing hardening gives rise to enhance both of the mechanical strength and the electrical conductivity. Therefore, it can be mentioned that the electrical conductivity of Cu-Ag alloys was affected dominantly by Ag solute in Cu matrix.