Enhancement of high temperature ductility of hot-pressed Cu–Cr–Nb alloy by hot rolling

Effect of hot rolling of the order of 90% reduction in thickness on the enhancement of ambient and high temperature mechanical properties of the vacuum hot-pressed dispersion hardened Cu–Cr–Nb alloy samples is studied. The vacuum hot-pressed samples are made by consolidation of alloy powders. The ambient and high temperature mechanical properties of the hot-pressed and hot-rolled samples are evaluated. Though the hot-rolled and hot-pressed materials exhibit comparable strength, high temperature ductility of the hot-rolled sample has greatly improved as compared to hot-pressed alloy. This attributes to the fragmentation of prior particle boundary network of the sintered materials and reduction in pore size and porosity level during hot rolling.