Internal Oxidation of Rapidly Solidified Cu–Zr Alloys

ODS (oxide dispersion-strengthened) copper alloys exhibit a combination of high electrical and thermal conductivity, good mechanical properties and stability of microstructure at higher temperatures. These materials are commercially produced by internal oxidation of Cu–Al alloys with less than 1.5 at.% Al, yielding 1 to 3 vol.% of fine Al2O3dispersoids. The coarsening of the dispersoids at higher temperatures and the influence of the particle-matrix interface on the efficiency with which the second phase inhibits dislocation motion, make it necessary to identify new, more effective dispersoids for copper matrices. The results presented in this paper show the feasibility of the rapid solidification – internal oxidation – approach to produce fine dispersions of zirconium oxide (ZrO2) in a copper matrix.