Mechanical properties and deformation kinetics of bulk Cu–Al–Zn alloy subjected to rolling and annealing

Tensile and stress relaxation experiments were used to study the mechanical properties and deformation kinetics of Cu–12.1 at%Al–4.1 at%Zn alloy processed by cold rolling and followed annealing. Samples rolled at liquid nitrogen temperature exhibit higher tensile strength and better ductility compared to the ones rolled at room temperature, and the low temperature annealing resulted in an increase of the strength for all as-rolled samples. The analysis of strain rate sensitivity, activation volume and mobile dislocations indicates that the thermally activated deformation mechanism in the as-rolled and low temperature annealed samples is different from that of the coarse grains.