High Strength and Electrical Conductivity of Al-Fe Alloys Produced by Synergistic Combination of High-Pressure Torsion and Aging

A synergistic combination of high-pressure torsion (HPT) and artificial aging was attempted in Al-Fe alloys to achieve high strength and high electrical conductivity. HPT produced an ultrafine-grained structure and supersaturation of Fe in the matrix, resulting in high strength above 500 MPa. Aging after the HPT processing increased the electrical conductivity well over 50 IACS% while simultaneously increasing the yield strength above 600 MPa via precipitation of dissolved Fe. The results demonstrate that Al containing a low fraction of Fe (2 wt%) should be a good candidate for a high strength, light weight, and high-electrical-conductive material.