Abstract
Powder metallurgy is widely used to synthesize bulk nanostructured metals. Cryomilling is one of the commonly used approaches to producing nanostructured metal powders. Spark plasma sintering (SPS) is an efficient consolidation technique. In this study we report on the synthesis of bulk nanostructured Cu-30%Zn alloy by cryomilling and subsequent consolidation of cryomilled powders by SPS, and microstructure and mechanical behavior of the consolidated bulk material. The results showed that cryomilling resulted in an average grain size of ~30 nm, and high density of deformation twins. Nearly full density was achieved after SPS. The sintered sample had a bimodal structure, with majority of grain sizes in the range of ~100 nm. A relatively high density of twins was retained after SPS. Mechanical tests showed that the sintered bulk sample had high strength and good ductility. The associated mechanisms were ascertained and discussed.