Effect of Mg on high temperature softening resistance of Cu–Cr–Fe alloy

This paper focuses on researching the softening resistance performance of Mg alloy under high temperature and the evolution of microstructure during high-temperature treatment. The results showed that, compared with Cu-0.39Cr-0.12Fe alloy, Cu-0.38Cr-0.04Fe-0.08Mg alloy has higher resistance to softening temperature, hardness and conductivity, which were 40 °C, 13 HV, 5% IACS higher than that of Cu-0.39Cr-0.12Fe alloy. Both of the aging precipitated phase of two alloys are nano-Cr phase. Mg can inhibit the growing of nano-Cr phase and the grain recrystallization process significantly. According to 3DAP analysis, the interface structure of Cr/Mg/Cu is formed, which might be the key factor that results in the excellent softening resistance performance of Cu–Cr–Fe–Mg alloy.