The electroplastic effect in the cold-drawing of copper wires for the automotive industry

The paper presents a comparison between conventional cold wire drawing and wire drawing combined with the application of high-density electric current pulses. The investigations were carried out having in mind the manufacture of copper wire for cables used in the automotive industry. A specially built experimental stand is described. The experiments showed a decrease in the pull force for wire drawing combined with the application of current pulses. The material properties of the drawn wires were tested. It was found that the plastic properties of the wire and its surface quality improved in the case of wire drawing combined with current pulses. The proposed technique of wire drawing is highly promising and potentially can replace the conventional on-line continuous annealing of the material.