Abstract: Using Q345 steel strip as the matrix and T3 pure copper as cladding material， a copper/steel/copper composite strip can be produced by a process route of cold-rolled composing-intermediate annealing-cold-rolled thinning-post rolling. The effects of the strip thickness and annealing temperature on the bending capacity of the composite strip were investigated by repeated bending experiments. It is found that the bending capacity of the composite strip mainly depends on mechanical interaction during the cold-rolled composing and the diffusion features during annealing. When the strip thickness becomes thinner during rolling， the bending capacity of the cold-rolled strip almost linearly increases. Moreover， the annealing process improves the bending capacity of the strip as well. The results shows that the bending capacity has an exponential relationship with annealing temperature.

Key words: copper/steel/copper composite, thin strip, bending capacity, cold rolling process, diffusion