Effect of Intermediate Layer Processed by High-Pressure Torsion on Microstructure Evolution and Nano-Deformation Behavior of Tungsten-Copper Three-Layer Composites
Xue Wang1,2, Cen Yang1, Yonghang Wang1, Mingming Wang1,3, Ying Chen4, Ping Li1,*
1 School of Materials Science and Engineering, Hefei University of Technology, Hefei, China
2 Engineering Research Center of High Performance Copper Alloy Materials and Processing, Ministry of Education, Hefei University of Technology, Hefei, China
3 No. 43 Research Institute, China Electronics Technology Group Corporation, Hefei, China
4 School of Materials Science and Engineering, Xiamen University of Technology, Xiamen, China
* Corresponding Author: Ping Li. Email: 
Computers, Materials & Continua https://doi.org/10.32604/cmc.2026.077868
Received 18 December 2025; Accepted 09 February 2026; Published online 02 March 2026
Abstract
Tungsten-copper laminated composites are promising materials for high heat-flux applications, but their performance is often limited by interfacial instability caused by the thermal-mechanical mismatch between tungsten and copper. In this study, W/W-30Cu/CuCrZr three-layer composites are fabricated by high-pressure torsion (HPT) processing. Experimental characterization and molecular dynamics (MD) simulations are used to systematically investigate the influence of HPT process parameters and intermediate-layer composition on the evolution of microstructure and mechanical properties. HPT processing significantly refines the grains of the W-xCu composites and enhances their homogeneity. After applying 15 revolutions of HPT on W-30Cu composites, the crystallite size decreases by about 45.3%. The dislocation density increases to 5.95 × 10
14 m
−2. The interfacial transition zone of tungsten-copper three-layer composites is continuous and stable after HPT processing, and the microhardness is gradient increasing along the radial direction, showing good stress coordination ability and interfacial bonding characteristics. With the increase of W content, the yield strength of W-xCu alloy increases significantly, but the ductility decreases. The W-30Cu system achieves the optimal balance between strength and ductility. At the same time, in the W/W-Cu/Cu model, as the number of dislocations increases, the yield stress and elastic modulus increase by about 15% and 22%, respectively, indicating that the high-density defects introduced by HPT have a significant strengthening effect on the composite system. This study provides an important theoretical basis and experimental support for the microstructure control and performance optimization of tungsten-copper laminated composite material.
Keywords
Tungsten-copper laminated composite material; high-pressure torsion processing; molecular dynamics simulation; microstructure evolution; nano-deformation behavior
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