Creep Tendencies of Cu-Al Thin Wires Submitted to Moderate Temperature Conditions: Influence of Intermetallic Compounds
X-Ray analysis was performed on copper-clad aluminum wires at 423 K and 673 K to follow their microstructural evolution and understand their strain behavior under creep deformation, potential operating load in automotive industry. The lifetime of the wires is found to be strongly dependent on the existence of an initial heat treatment and on the applied stress. Annealed drawn wires verify a traditional Norton law in the overall range of the stress level. Raw drawn wires exhibit a distinct two stage behavior with a breakdown around an applied stress of 0.7 times the yield stress. It is shown in this work that the intermetallic compounds between copper and aluminum play only the role of a mechanical bounding without affecting the strain rate of the wires.