Development of Cu-matrix, Al/Mn-reinforced, multilayered composites by accumulative roll bonding (ARB)

Highlights: • The Cu/Al/Mn nano-composite was successfully produced by the ARB process. • The XRD analysis showed the preparation of a nanostructured Cu/Al/Mn composite. • The bonding between the layers was improved by increasing ARB cycles. • The hardness and tensile strength of the composite increased with the ARB cycles. • Corrosion rate of the composite increased with the ARB cycles. In this work, nanostructured Cu/Al/Mn multilayered composites were successfully fabricated by the accumulative roll bonding (ARB) method. The microstructure of the produced composites was studied by X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy. Also, the hardness, tensile and corrosion behaviors of the composites were studied as a function of ARB cycles. It was observed that by increasing the number of ARB cycles, the thickness of the Al layers is decreased from 0.3 mm to 0.25 μm, where a Cu-matrix, Al/Mn-reinforced, multilayered composite with homogeneously distributed Al layers and Mn particles was achieved after nine ARB cycles. Also, the results revealed the development of nanostructures with the mean crystallite size of about 50 nm in the produced composites. According to the tensile experiments, by increasing ARB cycles, the strength of the composites was increased and reached 420.8 MPa. The electrochemical corrosion behavior of the produced composites was also investigated in a 3.5 wt % NaCl solution by a potentiostat-galvanostat device. It was found that the corrosion rate of the composite is increased by increasing ARB cycles from 5 μA/cm² to 12.2 μA/cm² and then decreased to 9.5 μA/cm².