COPPER AND ITS ALLOYS

Melting point of copper – 10830C

Main properties of copper:

High electrical and thermal conductivity

Good corrosion resistance, Machinability,
strength

Ease of fabrication

Non magnetic

Has a pleasing colour

Can be welded, brazed, and soldered

Easily finished by plating and lacquering

Electrical conductors- 99.9% Cu and identified as

Electrolytic Tough Pitch (ETP) copper or Oxygen
Free High Conductivity (OFHC) copper.

Arsenical copper - ≈ 0.3% Arsenic – improved

resistance to special corrosive conditions

Free cutting copper - ≈ 0.6% Tellurium – excellent

machining properties

Silver bearing copper – 7 to 30 oz/ton silver –

Silver raises the recrytallization of copper

Prepared by: DrD.K.Hurreeram 1

August 04
TEMPER DESIGNATION: Cu and most of its
alloys are homogeneous single phases, there are not
susceptible to heat treatment and t heir strength
may be altered only by cold working.

Two general classes of temper for non heat

treatable wrought copper alloys : cold worked and
soft or annealed.

The different cold worked tempers are obtained by

cold working the annealed material a definite
amount.

COPPER ALLOYS:

Brasses – essentially alloys of cu and Zn.
Some of the alloys may contain small amounts
of Pb, Sn, Al

Variations in composition will result in desired

colour, strength, ductility, machinability, corrosion
resistance, or a combination of such properties

Best combination of strength and ductility 70Cu-

30Zn
Prepared by: DrD.K.Hurreeram 2
August 04
Commercial Brass

Brasses for cold worked (Alpha brasses)

Brasses for hot working (Alpha Plus Beta
Brasses)

A. Alpha brasses – containing up to 36% Zn

Relatively good corrosion resistance and good
working properties.

1 Yellow α brasses – 20-36% Zn

Good strength with high ductility

Suitable for drastic cold working

Common practice to stress relief anneal these

bronzes after cold working to prevent stress
corrosion cracking

Subjected to selective leaching which can be

minimized by small amount of tin or antimony

0.5-3% lead improves machinability

Admiralty metal (71Cu-28Zn-1Sn)- improved

strength and corrosion resistance

Prepared by: DrD.K.Hurreeram 3

August 04
Aluminium brass (76 Cu-22Zn-2Al)- better
corrosion resistance form tenacious and self
healing film

2 Red brasses – 5 to 20 % Zn

Better corrosion resistance than yellow brasses and

not susceptible to stress corrosion cracking and
dezincification.

Gliding metal (95Cu-5Zn),

Commercial bronze (90Cu-10Zn),
Red brass (85Cu-15Zn),
Low brass (80 Cu-20 Zn)

B. Alpha Plus Beta Brasses – 54 to 62 % Cu

Consist of two phases - α + β1

β1 harder and more brittle than α at room

temperature therefore more difficult to cold work.
At elevated temperatures- single phase β becomes
very plastic, hence excellent hot working
properties.
Prepared by: DrD.K.Hurreeram 4
August 04
Muntz Metal – 60Cu-40Zn – has high tensile
strength and excellent hot working properties

Free cutting brass (61.5Cu-35.5Zn-3Pb)

Forging brass (60Cu-38Zn-2Pb)
Architectural Bronze – (57Cu-40Zn-3Pb)
Naval Brass – (60Cu-39.25Zn-0.75Sn)
Manganese bronze – (58.5Cu-39Zn-1.4Fe-1.5Sn-0.1Mn)

Bronzes – up to 12 % alloying elements.

Alloys of Cu and Sn, Al, Si, Be, in addition may
contain P, Pb, Zn, or Ni

A. Tin bronzes (Phosphor bronzes)

B. Silicon bronzes
C. Aluminum bronzes
D. Beryllium bronzes

Cupro-Nickels – Alloys of Copper and

Nickel

Nickel Silvers - alloys of Copper, Nickel

and Zinc

Prepared by: DrD.K.Hurreeram 5

August 04