Experimental and Numerical Investigation of a Cu–Al Bimetallic Tube Produced by ECAP

Abstract

In this paper, a new application of equal channel angular pressing (ECAP) for fabrication of Cu–Al bimetallic tubes is presented. For the evaluation of ECAP effects, the microstructure and micro-hardness of samples are considered. To investigate of bonding properties of Cu–Al tubes, optical microscopy and shear strength testing were used. In addition, the effect of friction coefficient and thickness on applied force was evaluated by numerical analysis. The results from the experiments indicated that the hardness of Cu and Al increased by 156.8 and 129%, respectively. Also, the average Cu grain size after three passes fell from 62.5 to 11.2 µm. Finally, Cu and Al tubes were well interconnected as a bimetallic tube at higher passes.