The Bauschinger effect in drawn and annealed nanocomposite Cu–Nb wires

To compliment recent diffraction based measurements of the internal stresses in heavily co-deformed Cu–Nb nanocomposite wires, Bauschinger tests have been performed and used to interpret bulk mechanical response. The role of microstructural heterogeneity has been highlighted and a Masing-type model developed to predict both forward and reverse Bauschinger behaviour. This model has been compared to recent physically based models that are used to describe the flow stress of the various microstructural components of these wires and shown to give good agreement when the role of initial residual stresses is considered. The model is also shown to give insight into the evolution of the strength and work hardening behaviour of the material on annealing based on the softening of the different constituent phases.