Aluminum-based conductive material and electric wire and cable using the same

• US 9,779,849 B2
• Filed: 09/04/2012
• Issued: 10/03/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 09/05/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Dyden Corporation, Fukuoka Prefectural Government, Kumamoto University
• Original Assignee: Dyden Corporation, Fukuoka Prefectural Government, Kumamoto University
• Inventors: In, Hiroyuki, Annou, Fumiyo, Matsunaga, Daisuke, Kitahara, Hiromoto, Ando, Shinji, Tsushida, Masayuki, Ogawa, Toshifumi
• Primary Examiner(s): King, Roy
• Assistant Examiner(s): MORILLO, JANELL COMBS
• Application Number:
  US14/342,660
• Publication Number:
  US 20140224523A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,855 Days
• CPC Class Codes: B82Y 30/00 Nanotechnology for materials or surface science, e.g. nanocomposites
• CPC Class Codes: C22C 21/00 Alloys based on aluminium
• CPC Class Codes: C22F 1/00 Changing the physical structure of non-ferrous metals or alloys by heat treatment or by hot or cold working apparatus for mechanical working of metal B21, B23, B24
• CPC Class Codes: C22F 1/04 of aluminium or alloys based thereon
• CPC Class Codes: H01B 1/023 Alloys based on aluminium

Abstract

An aluminium-based conductive material used in a driving part of robots or various devices and used, for example, in a wiring that is loaded with cyclic bending, as well as an electric wire and a cable using the same, contains 0.1 to 1.0 mass % of scandium and further contains, as a rest part, aluminium and unavoidable impure substances and is formed of a metal texture 10 having crystal grains 11 with an average grain size of 2 μm or less and aluminium-scandium series nanoprecipitates generated in a grain boundary 12 of the crystal grains 11. Further, it is preferable that the metal texture 10 contains the crystal grains 11 of 1 μm or less at a cross sectional ratio of 15% or more.

Claims

1. An aluminum-based conductive material obtained from an aluminum alloy, consisting of 0.1 to 1.0 mass % of scandium and, as a remainder, aluminum and unavoidable impure substances, wherein:

aluminum alloy is subjected to an aging treatment and a cutting work to form a wire rod, and the wire rod is subjected to a die wire drawing work, thereby allowing the scandium existing in crystal grains and grain boundary of the aluminum to precipitate in the grain boundary as an intermetallic compound, to form the aluminum-based conductive material;

the aluminum-based conductive material is formed of a metal texture having crystal grains with an average grain size of 2 μ

m or less and containing the crystal grains of 1 μ

m or less at a cross sectional ratio of 15% or more;

the metal texture has aluminum-scandium series nanoprecipitates generated in the grain boundary of the crystal grains, the nanoprecipitates having an average grain size of 1 to 60 nm, the average grain size allowing the function of pinning cracks; and

the aluminum-based conductive material is resistant to three million times of dynamic driving tests.

2. The aluminum-based conductive material as defined in claim 1, wherein the metal texture contains the crystal grains of 1 μ

m or less at a cross sectional ratio of 20% or more, and the aluminum-based conductive material is resistant to ten million times of dynamic driving tests.

3. The aluminum-based conductive material as defined in claim 1, wherein the wire rod is performed a die wire drawing work at a low temperature after the wire rod is subjected to a heat treatment.

4. An electric wire, using the aluminum-based conductive material as defined in claim 1 as a conductor wire, the conductor wire having a diameter of 0.05 mm or more and 0.5 mm or less.

5. A cable, using the aluminum-based conductive material as defined in claim 1 as a conductor wire.

6. The aluminum-based conductive material as defined in claim 1, wherein before the die wire drawing work, the wire rod is subjected to a rotary forging work using a swaging machine until a predetermined diameter is attained, and a heat treatment to promote formation of isometric crystals.