中国有色金属学报(英文版)
Transactions of Nonferrous Metals Society of China
| Vol. 36 No. 1 January 2026 |
（a Henan Key Laboratory of Non-ferrous Materials Science and Processing Technology, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Henan University of Science and Technology, Luoyang 471023, China;
b Henan Key Laboratory of Advanced Conductor Materials, Institute of Materials, Henan Academy of Sciences, Zhengzhou 450046, China;
c GRIMAT Engineering Institute Co., Ltd., Beijing 101407, China）
Abstract:The microstructural evolution of Cu-19Ni-6Cr-7Mn alloy during aging treatment was investigated. After aging for 120 min at 500 °C, the alloy exhibited excellent mechanical properties, including a tensile strength of 978 MPa and an elastic modulus of 145.8 GPa. After aging for 240 min at 500 °C, the elastic modulus of the alloy reached 149.5 GPa, which was among the highest values reported for Cu alloys. It was worth mentioning that the tensile strength increased rapidly from 740 to 934 MPa after aging for 5 min at 500 °C, which was close to the maximum tensile strength (978 MPa). Analysis of the underlying strengthening mechanisms and phase transformation behavior revealed that the Cu-19Ni-6Cr-7Mn alloy underwent spinodal decomposition and DO22 ordering during the first 5 min of aging at 500 °C, and L12 ordered phases and bcc-Cr precipitates appeared. Therefore, the enhanced mechanical properties of the Cu-19Ni-6Cr-7Mn alloy can be attributed to the stress field generated by spinodal decomposition and the presence of nanoscale ordered phase and Cr precipitates.
Key words: Cu-Ni-Cr-Mn alloy; mechanical properties; nanoscale precipitates; spinodal decomposition; elastic modulus
