COPPER ALLOY AND COPPER ALLOY WIRE

摘要

A copper alloy having high strength and a high electrical conductivity in combination and a copper alloy wire are provided. A copper alloy contains 50 percent by mass or more and 95 percent by mass or less of Cu, 5 percent by mass or more and 50 percent by mass or less of Fe, and the remainder composed of deoxidizer elements and incidental impurities and has a texture exhibiting large diffraction peaks in the <111> orientation of Cu and in the <110> orientation of Fe when a cross-section is subjected to X-ray diffraction. The intensity ratio I Cu(111) of the diffraction peak in the <111> orientation of Cu to the intensity of the whole diffraction lines of Cu is 0.70 or more and 1.0 or less and the intensity ratio I Fe(110) of the diffraction peak in the <110> orientation of Fe to the intensity of the whole diffraction lines of Fe is 0.90 or more and 1.0 or less. This copper alloy has a high electrical conductivity of 50% IACS or more in spite of high strength by controlling the orientation property in such a way that the above-described specific texture is established.