A New Method for Improving Strength and Plasticity of Steel Wire

Specially designed wire-drawing equipment with multiple electropulse generator was introduced. The influences of multiple electropulses processing on the microstructure and properties of the hardened steel wire were investigated. Samples treated by direct current under the same current density as that in multiple electropulses processing were carried out for contrast analysis. The results show that the optimized parameters of multiple electropulses processing will be facilitated to increase the nucleation rate and slow down the growth rate of recrystallized grains. Consequently, massive superfine grains of micro and sub-micro scale could be found in the steel wire. Thereby, the elongation was significantly enhanced with a relatively small strength reduction in comparison with as-received cold-drawing steel wires. Outstanding mechanical properties of steel wire were obtained.