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Acta Metall Sin  2026, Vol. 62 Issue (8): 1443-1453    DOI: 10.11900/0412.1961.2024.00337
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Slip Transfer in Accumulative Roll Bonding Cu/Nb Multilayer Composites
YANG Ran1, SONG Shaojie1(), LIU Feilong1, SHEN Ximei1, SONG Kexing2, LIU Feng1
1 State Key Laboratory of Solidification Processing, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi'an 710072, China
2 Institute of Materials, Henan Academy of Sciences, Zhengzhou 450046, China
Cite this article: 

YANG Ran, SONG Shaojie, LIU Feilong, SHEN Ximei, SONG Kexing, LIU Feng. Slip Transfer in Accumulative Roll Bonding Cu/Nb Multilayer Composites. Acta Metall Sin, 2026, 62(8): 1443-1453.

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Abstract  

Niobium-based alloys are commonly used as superconductors in particle accelerators and fusion Tokamaks. However, magnets made of these alloys experience considerable radiation damage, particularly from helium transmutation products in nuclear reactors, which tend to aggregate at grain boundaries (GBs) and phase boundaries (PBs). This aggregation severely degrades the material's performance. Furthermore, niobium is highly prone to oxidation at high temperatures, further restricting its applications in extreme environments. Recent studies have demonstrated that Cu/Nb multilayer composites fabricated through accumulative roll bonding (ARB) exhibit high yield strength, acceptable ductility, and excellent radiation resistance, making them highly promising for nuclear industry applications. In Cu/Nb multilayer composites with fcc/bcc structures prepared via ARB, interfacial instability and strain concentration can occur during deformation due to the high three-dimensional incompatibility of heterophase interfaces. In this study, Cu/Nb polycrystalline multilayer composites were prepared using ARB. In situ tensile tests were conducted using SEM to investigate the slip transfer and blocking behaviors at the GBs and PBs. These behaviors were studied by observing the slip trace alignment and surface morphology continuity. Slip transfer behavior in Cu/Nb multilayer materials was elucidated through statistical analysis of the Luster-Morris parameter (m' = cosψcosκ,where ψ and κ represent the angles between the two slip plane normal directions and the two slip directions, respectively) and residual Burgers vector (Δb = | bs2-bs1|, where bs2and bs1 are the two unit Burgers vectors of the slip systems in sample coordinate system). In the Cu layer, slip transfer occurs at the GBs when m′ exceeds 0.77 and Δb is less than 0.029. In the Nb layer, slip transfer occurs when m′ exceeds 0.81 and Δb is less than 0.250. For the Cu/Nb PBs, slip transfer occurs when m′ exceeds 0.93 and Δb is less than 0.173. Notably, the minimum m(mth, min')and maximum Δbbth, max) for slip transfer at Cu GBs are lower than those at Nb GBs, indicating that slip transfer is more likely to occur at GBs in the Cu layer. The mth, min' for slip transfer at Cu/Nb PBs is higher than that at both Cu and Nb GBs, whereas the Δbth, max lies between the two types of GBs. This phenomenon can be attributed to the more complex structure, higher interface energy, and lower shear strength of Cu/Nb PBs than GBs. To achieve slip transfer across fcc/bcc PBs, a larger resolved shear stress is thermodynamically required; and kinetically, the slip systems on both sides of the PB must be closely aligned, corresponding to a higher mth, min' and a moderate Δbth, max.

Key words:  slip transfer      Cu/Nb multilayer composites      heterogeneous deformation      in situ tensile test     
Received:  27 September 2024     
ZTFLH:  TG146.4  
Fund: National Natural Science Foundation of China(52474424);National Natural Science Foundation of China(52431002);Research Fund of the State Key Laboratory of Solidi?cation Processing(2022-TS-01)
Corresponding Authors:  SONG Shaojie, associate professor, Tel: (029)88492374, E-mail: sjsong@nwpu.edu.cn

URL: 

https://www.ams.org.cn/EN/10.11900/0412.1961.2024.00337     OR     https://www.ams.org.cn/EN/Y2026/V62/I8/1443

Fig.1  Schematics of accumulative roll bonding (ARB) procedure (a) and dimension of the in situ tensile sample (unit: mm) (b)
Fig.2  SEM images of the region of interest (ROI) under different strains (ε) (C type represents curved slip trace near grain boundary)
Fig.3  Inverse pole figure (IPF) of the ROI (Numbers represent grain identification, the same below) (a) and the slip trace corresponding to the maximum Schmid factor of the underformed sample (Red lines represent Cu layers, blue lines represent Nb layers) (b)
Fig.4  Actual slip traces (a) and all theoretical slip traces (b) in grain 9 of Cu layer under 12% strain (SS represents slip system. The lines in Fig.4b with different colors represent different sets of slip planes, the rightmost value in the legend of Fig.4b represents the Schmid factor of each slip system, the same in Fig.5)
Fig.5  Actual slip trace (a) and all theoretical slip traces (b) in grain 47 of Nb layer under 12% strain
Fig.6  Activated slip systems at GB1 between grains 2 and 9 in Cu layer under different ε (GB—grain boundary)
Slip systemm'b

SS2 in grain 9

(m = 0.42)

SS9 in grain 9

(m = 0.48)

SS1 in grain 2

(m = 0.36)

0.27/1.0000.77/0.005

SS11 in grain 2

(m = 0.28)

0.78/0.0100.28/0.996
Table 1  Schmid factors (m) and slip transfer criteria for activated slip systems of two grains at GB1 in Cu layer
Fig.7  Activated slip systems at GB2 between grains 7 and 31 in Cu layer under different ε
Slip systemmm'Δb
SS8 in grain 70.450.271.000
SS9 in grain 310.45
Table 2  Schmid factors of activated slip systems and slip transfer criteria between the two slip systems at GB2 in Cu layer (see in Fig.7)
Fig.8  Activated slip systems at PB1 between Cu layer and Nb layer under different ε (PB—phase boundary)
LayerSlip systemmm'Δb
CuSS4 in grain 140.330.930.173
NbSS21 in grain 470.45
Table 3  Schmid factors of activated slip systems and slip transfer criteria between the two slip systems at PB1 (see in Fig.8)
Fig.9  Activated slip systems at PB2 between Cu layer and Nb layer under different ε
LayerSlip systemmm'Δb
CuSS9 in grain 310.450.720.727
NbSS24 in grain 400.30
Table 4  Schmid factors of activated slip systems and slip transfer criteria between the two slip systems at PB2 (see in Fig.9)
Fig.10  Relationships of m′, Δb, and misorientations at Cu GBs (a-c), Nb GBs (d-f), and Cu/Nb PBs (g-i) (Dots represent slip transfer, crosses represent slip blocks)
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