Study the deformation behavior of Cu-Fe laminated composite using the experimental characterization and crystal plasticity finite element modeling

In this study, Cu-Fe laminated composites with various layers were prepared by vacuum hot pressing followed by hot rolling, and the microstructure, mechanical properties and electrical conductivity of Cu-Fe laminated composites were systematically studied. The deformation mechanism of Cu-Fe laminated composites was enclosed by in-situ tensile test in a scanning electron microscope and crystal plasticity finite element modeling (CPFEM). Comparing to Cu layers, local necking occurs preferentially in the Fe layers during loading. Results from CPFEM show that the decrease in the difference of critical resolved shear stress (CRSS) values between Cu layers and Fe layers would promote deformation transfer between neighboring layers, then, tend to form the strong localized strain band; while increasing the difference of CRSS values or the hardening parameters of Cu and Fe layers would prevent deformation transfer between neighboring layers, leading to the strong strain partitioning between Cu and Fe layers. Due to deformation transfer from Cu layers to Fe layers, a load plateau in the load-displacement curves is observed during nanoindentation tests at interface zone, however, which is absent at Cu layers and Fe layers.