Introduction

You might see the word alloy described as a "mixture of metals",

but that's a little bit misleading because some alloys contain only one
metal and it's mixed in with other substances that are nonmetals (cast
iron, for example, is an alloy made of just one metal, iron, mixed with
one nonmetal, carbon). The best way to think of an alloy is as a
material that's made up of at least two different chemical elements,
one of which is a metal.

The most important metallic component of an alloy (often

representing 90 percent or more of the material) is called the main
metal, the parent metal, or the base metal. The other components
of an alloy (which are called alloying agents) can be either metals or
nonmetals and they're present in much smaller quantities (sometimes
less than 1 percent of the total). Although an alloy can sometimes be a
compound (the elements it's made from are chemically bonded
together), it's usually a solid solution (atoms of the elements are
simply intermixed, like salt mixed with water).

Metal Alloys
Here are some Metal Alloys with its applications. If you want a
full list of Metal Alloys, there components and applications you can
visit
this
site:
http://chemistry.about.com/od/alloys/a/list-ofalloys.htm, for a more in depth discussion on the matter.

Alloy

Components

Typical uses

Amalg
am

Mercury (4555%), plus silver, tin,

copper, and zinc.

Dental
fillings.

Babbit

Tin (90%), antimony (715%), copper

Friction-

t metal
("white
metal")

(410%).

reducing
coating in
machine
bearings.

Brass

Copper (6590%), zinc (1035%).

Door locks
and bolts,
brass
musical
instruments,
central
heating
pipes.

Bronze

Copper (7895%), tin (522%), plus

manganese, phosphorus, aluminum,
or silicon.

Decorative
statues,
musical
instruments.

Cast
iron

Iron (9698%), carbon (24%), plus

silicon.

Metal
structures
such as
bridges and
heavy-duty
cookware.

Dural
umin

Aluminum (94%), copper (4.55%),

magnesium (0.51.5%), manganese
(0.51.5%).

Automobile
and aircraft
body parts,
military
equipment.

Nichro
me

Nickel (80%), chromium (20%).

Firework
ignition
devices,
heating

elements in
electrical
appliances.

Steel
(gener
al)

Iron (8098%), carbon (0.22%), plus

other metals such as chromium,
manganese, and vanadium.

Metal
structures,
car and
airplane
parts, and
many other
uses.

Steel
(stainl
ess)

Iron (50%+), chromium (1030%),

plus smaller amounts of carbon,
nickel, manganese, molybdenum, and
other metals.

Jewelry,
medical tools,
tableware.

Steel Alloys
Alloy steel is steel that is alloyed with a variety of elements in
total amounts between 1.0% and 50% by weight to improve its
mechanical or physical properties.

Strictly speaking, every steel is an alloy, but not all steels are
called "alloy steels". The simplest steels are iron (Fe) alloyed with
carbon (C) (about 0.1% to 1%, depending on type). However, the term
"alloy steel" is the standard term referring to steels with other alloying
elements added deliberately in addition to the carbon. Common
alloyants include manganese, nickel, chromium, molybdenum,
vanadium, silicon, and boron. Less common alloyants include
aluminum, cobalt, copper, cerium, niobium, titanium, tungsten, tin,
zinc, lead, and zirconium.

Element

Percentage

Primary function

Aluminium

0.951.30

Alloying element in nitriding steels

Bismuth

Improves machinability

Boron

0.0010.003

A powerful hardenability agent

0.52

Increases hardenability

418

Increases corrosion resistance

Copper

0.10.4

Corrosion resistance

Lead

Improved machinability

0.250.40

Combines with sulfur and with phosphorus to

reduce the brittleness. Also helps to remove
excess oxygen from molten steel.

>1

Increases
hardenability
by
transformation
points
and
transformations to be sluggish

Chromium

Manganese

Molybdenum 0.25

Nickel
Silicon

lowering
causing

Stable carbides; inhibits grain growth. Increases

the
toughness
of
steel,
thus
making
molybdenum a very valuable alloy metal for
making the cutting parts of machine tools and
also the turbine blades of turbojet engines. Also
used in rocket motors.

25

Toughener

1220

Increases corrosion resistance

0.20.7

Increases strength

2.0

Spring steels

Higher
percentages

Improves magnetic properties

Sulfur

0.080.15

Free-machining properties

Titanium

Fixes carbon in inert particles; reduces

martensitic hardness in chromium steels

Tungsten

Also increases the melting point.

0.15

Stable carbides; increases strength while

retaining
ductility;
promotes
fine
grain
structure. Increases the toughness at high
temperatures

Vanadium

* Note: The following is a range of improved properties in alloy steels

(as compared to carbon steels): strength, hardness, toughness, wear
resistance, corrosion resistance, hardenability, and hot hardness. To
achieve some of these improved properties the metal may require heat
treating.

Manufacturing Process
You might find the idea of an alloy as a "mixture of metals" quite
confusing. How can you mix together two lumps of solid metal? The
raw materials for all of the processes are 2 or more powdered metals
or elements that are to be combined to yield a metal with the desired
characteristics.
The traditional way of making alloys was called Heat
Treatment. It is the process of heating and melting the components
to make liquids, mix them together, and then allow them to cool into
what's called a solid solution (the solid equivalent of a solution like
salt in water).
An alternative way of making an alloy is to turn the components
into powders, mix them together, and then fuse them with a
combination of high pressure and high temperature. This technique is
called Powder Metallurgy.

A third method of making alloys is to fire beams of ions (atoms

with too few or too many electrons) into the surface layer of a piece of
metal. Ion implantation, as this is known, is a very precise way of
making an alloy. It's probably best known as a way of making the
semiconductors used in electronic circuits and computer chips. (Read
more about this in our article on molecular beam epitaxy.)