Xiaoshan Huang, Baoyu Zhang, J. Lin, Wenliang Han, Xinfang Zhang
High-level residual stresses generated during plastic forming of brass alloys severely compromise the dimensional accuracy, stress corrosion resistance, and service reliability of components. Conventional heat treatment methods suffer from high energy consumption, long processing time, and risks of grain coarsening, making it difficult to achieve efficient stress relief under mild conditions. This study applies pulsed electric current treatment for short-time low-temperature annealing of deformed brass. Macroscopic stress tests, microstructural characterization, and ammonia stress corrosion tests demonstrate that pulsed current treatment achieves a residual stress elimination rate of 91.4%, significantly reducing micro-strain and dislocation density, outperforming conventional isothermal heat treatment (which only achieved 14.3% stress elimination). Mechanism analysis reveals that the high efficiency of pulsed current treatment stems from a thermo-electric coupling effect: The stress generated by electron-dislocation interactions provides directional driving force for dislocation motion. Their synergy significantly enhances atomic diffusion flux, facilitating rapid dislocation annihilation and microstructural relaxation. This work provides an efficient low-carbon strategy for residual stress regulation in metallic components, showing significant potential for precision manufacturing applications.