Additively manufactured copper alloy with heterogeneous nanoprecipitates-dislocation architecture for superior strength-ductility-conductivity synergy

Employing a single strategy that overcomes the strength-ductility-conductivity trade-off in copper alloys has proven to be challenging. In this study, we introduced a novel heterogeneous nanoprecipitate–dislocation (HND) architecture in CuCrNb alloy consisting of a multi-modal core–shell grain structure and an interconnected dislocation network pinned by abundant nanoprecipitates. Our CuCrNb-HND alloy exhibited superior strength–ductility synergy at both room and elevated temperatures. In particular, aging treatment-induced high-density coherent Cr secondary nanoprecipitates into the HND skeleton endowed the CuCrNb-HND450 alloy with a high tensile strength of over 1 GPa and a conductivity of ∼50%, surpassing those of most of the reported additively manufactured copper alloys. An in situ transmission electron microscopy heating experiment revealed the superior thermal stability of the HND architecture. Hierarchical strengthening contributed to the enhancement of mechanical properties. At the micrometer scale, the harmonic grain structure with a strong fine-grained shell and a ductile coarse-grained core effectively improved mechanical properties by suppressing localized plastic deformation. At the nanometer scale, the synergistic effect of the nanoprecipitate–dislocation network further improved the alloy strength by slowing down dislocation movement. Overall, our proposed HND architecture provides an efficient pathway for developing high-strength and high-conductivity copper alloys. © 2024 Elsevier B.V.