Macrostructure and properties of thin walled copper tubes prepared by the downward continuous unidirectional solidification method

Abstract

The macrostructure and properties of the thin walled copper tube prepared by the downward continuous unidirectional solidification (DCUS) method were studied. The result shows that the macrostructure is closely related to the solid-liquid interface profile, which is influenced by the distance between the cooling water location and the solidification front. The mechanical properties of the thin walled copper tube prepared by the DCUS method are near those of the normal cast copper, and it has good relative density, electrical conductivity, and elongation, which are not greatly affected by casting speed. The thin walled copper tube prepared by the DCUS method also has good processing properties that can be taken to further drawing procedures directly without an intermediate process, and obtains good mechanical properties with the total processing rate of 89.8%.

Keywords

unidirectional solidification / copper tube / short process / macrostructure / mechanical properties

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