Elastic properties of Cu–6wt% Ag alloy wires for pulsed magnets investigated by ultrasonic techniques

Abstract Conductor materials with good mechanical performance as well as high electrical and thermal conductivities are particularly important to break through the current bottle-neck limit (∼100 T) of pulsed magnets. Here, we perform systematic studies on the elastic properties of the Cu–6wt% Ag alloy wire, which is a promising candidate material for the new-generation pulsed magnets, by employing two independent ultrasonic techniques, i.e., resonant ultrasound spectroscopy (RUS) and ultrasound pulse-echo experiments. Our RUS measurements manifest that the elastic properties of the Cu–6wt% Ag alloy wires can be improved by an electroplastic drawing procedure as compared with the conventional cold drawing. We also take this opportunity to test the availability of our newly-built ultrasound pulse-echo facility at the Wuhan National High Magnetic Field Center (WHMFC, China), and the results suggest that the elastic performance of the electroplastically-drawn Cu–6wt% Ag alloy wire remains excellent without anomalous softening under extreme conditions, e.g., in ultra-high magnetic field up to 50 T and nitrogen or helium cryogenic liquids.