Microstructural evolution, mechanical properties, and strain hardening behavior of ultrafine grained commercial pure copper during the accumulative roll bonding process

In this study, the microstructural evolution, mechanical properties, and strain hardening behavior of commercial pure copper processed by the accumulative roll bonding (ARB) were investigated. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) micrographs and atomic force microscopy (AFM) images indicated that with increasing the number of ARB cycles, the grain size of samples decreased. An Ultrafine grained (UFG) structure with an average grain size of about 200 nm was achieved after four cycles of ARB. The yield and ultimate tensile strength of pure copper with the UFG microstructure was reached about 360 MPa and 396 MPa (about 400% and 100% higher than that of the annealed state), respectively. All ARB-processed copper samples showed lower strain hardening exponent in comparison with the annealed state. Moreover, the strain hardening rate increased with increasing ARB cycles up to 3 cycles and then decreased.