A novel compact preparation process has been developed to produce a Cu-20Ni-20Mn alloy. This process involves heating-cooling combined mould (HCCM) continuous casting, a solution treatment at 800 °C, rolling at room temperature and a final ageing step at 450 °C. This process eliminates two hot deformation processes, namely, hot forging and hot rolling, greatly improving production efficiency and reducing production costs compared with the traditional preparation process. The alloy fabricated by this process was found to have excellent mechanical properties. Additionally, the formation of precipitated phases during the ageing step is accelerated by this new process. The hardness of the samples reaches 476 HV after ageing for 10 h. Stable, ordered precipitates of Ni₃Mn(L$1_2$ phase) are observed in the rolled specimen, and the orientation relationship between the copper matrix and ordered Ni₃Mn phase (L$1_2$ phase) is [200]_Cu//[010]_Ni3Mn and [011]_Cu//[011]_Ni3Mn. Precipitation strengthening is the main reason for the increase of strength of the sample during the ageing process. The mechanical properties and ageing precipitation process of the alloy are affected by the rolling process. The precipitation rate of the rolled sample is greatly increased during the ageing process, leading to a larger amount of precipitates.

The influence of heat treatment and deformation on the microstructure and properties of a Cu–Ni–Si alloy/AA8030 alloy composite wire was studied. After aging at 450 °C for 60 min, the composite wire exhibited relatively high comprehensive properties, with ultimate tensile strength, elongation, and electrical conductivity values of 253 MPa, 11.1%, and 55.3% IACS, respectively. Microstructural analysis revealed that precipitation and dislocation strengthening played important roles in the aged Cu–Ni–Si alloy cladding, whereas grain boundary and dislocation strengthening contributed to the strength of the AA8030 alloy. Then, the wire underwent five passes of drawing with a total deformation of 75%. Significant work hardening changed the ultimate tensile strength, elongation, and electrical conductivity of the composite wire to 422 MPa, 3.3%, and 53.6% IACS, respectively. CuAl₂, CuAl and Cu₉Al₄ layers were formed at the composite interface during aging. The CuAl₂ and Cu₉Al₄ layers grew toward the Al alloy and Cu alloy, respectively, whereas the CuAl layer grew toward both the Al alloy and the Cu alloy.

A solid/liquid continuous composite casting technology was developed to produce brass-clad copper stranded wire billets efficiently with continuous casting speeds ranging from 200 mm/min to 1000 mm/min. As the casting speed increased, the microstructure of the brass cladding transformed at an angle to the radial direction. The wire billet prepared at a casting speed of 600 mm/min was then subjected to drawing. As the percentage reduction in area of the billet increased from 11.9 to 81.5% during the drawing process, the tensile strength improved from 336 MPa to 534 MPa, while the elongation after fracture decreased from 30.1 to 4.7%. Meanwhile, dislocation, dislocation cells, and microbands successively formed in the pure copper strand wires, while twins, shear bands, dislocation pile-ups, and secondary twins gradually formed in the brass cladding. During the drawing process, the interface between copper and brass remained metallurgically bonded, exhibiting coordinated deformation behavior. This paper clarified the evolution of microstructure and mechanical properties of brass-clad copper stranded wires in high-speed solid/liquid continuous composite casting and drawing, which could provide important reference for industrial production.