THE INFLUENCE OF MICROSTRUCTURAL SCALE ON THE COMBINATION OF STRENGTHAND ELECTRICAL-RESISTIVITY IN COPPER-BASED COMPOSITES

In many engineering applications materials are required to satisfy two or more selection criteria. An example is the provision of wire for t he winding of high field magnets, and a methodology is proposed here t hat links these design criteria to the processing of fine scale compos ites. In developing the descriptions of the dependence of both mechani cal strength and resistivity on the microstructural scale of the compo site the modelling reveals the importance of new processes such as int erface scattering and energy storage mechanisms at the interface that give new insights into the behaviour of fine scale structures. Finally from consideration of the scaling laws for strength and conductivity, it is possible to develop a comparison between the efficiencies of mi croscale, and macroscale composites for high field magnet applications .