THERMO-MECHANICAL PROCESSING OF OXIDE DISPERSION-STRENGTHENED COPPER.

A dispersion-hardened copper alloy, consisting of copper, 1. 0 volume percent ThO//2, was examined with respect to the hot consolidation processing (rolling). Hot-rolling consolidation was used to achieve full densification of the alloy whose initial state was the appropriate powders. Several degrees of rolling reduction, with their associated microstructural features, such as particle dispersion quality, grain size, texture, etc. , were correlated with mechanical and electrical properties. Both as-consolidated and subsequently annealed forms of the alloy were characterized. Conductivity was shown to be stable and relatively high, and mechanical properties did not exhibit the extreme softening evidenced by most copper alloys when exposed to high temperature. Part II reports thermal-mechanical processing of thoriated copper.