Abstract: In order to investigate the electrical conductivity and mechanical properties of the Al-Fe-Cu-0.25La-Zr alloy for electric wire and cable under different annealing processes, the microstructure and performance indexes such as electric conductivity, tensile strength and elongation were tested by means of conductivity tester, universal tensile testing machine and metallographic microscope, respectively. The results show that when annealed at 350 ℃ for 2 h, the peak value of electric conductivity of the alloy reaches 62.8%IACS, with the tensile strength of 101.5 MPa and the elongation of 32.4%. After annealing at 300 ℃ for 2 h, the electric conductivity of the alloy reaches 62.1%IACS, with the tensile strength of 125.0 MPa and the elongation of 13.4%. When annealed at 300 ℃ for 4-10 h, the electric conductivity of the alloy is relatively stable, and is higher than that when annealed at 350 ℃ for 4-10 h, indicating that the alloy has better thermal stability at 300 ℃. The optimal annealing process of the Al-Fe-Cu-0.25La-Zr alloy is 300 ℃×2 h, after treating by this process the alloy wire meets the requirements of electrical and mechanical properties of electric wire specified in the national standard and can reduce the production cost.

Key words: Al-Fe-Cu-0.25La-Zr alloy, electrical conductivity, annealing, thermal stability