Unit 3 – NonFerrous Alloys

UNITIII-FERROUSANDNON-FERROUSMETALS

Effect of alloying additions on steel- α and β stabilisers– stainless and tool steels – HSLA,
Maraging steels – Cast Iron - Grey, white, malleable, spheroidal – alloy cast irons, Copper
and copper alloys – Brass, Bronze and Cupronickel – Aluminium and Al-Cu – precipitation
strengthening treatment – Bearing alloys, Mg-alloys, Ni-based super alloys and Titanium
alloys.

Manipandi A S
Asst-Professor /Mech
 Non Ferrous Alloys
All metallic elements other than iron as their major constituent are
termed as non-ferrous alloy.
Even though the non ferrous alloys are not produced as in great
tonnage and are costlier than ferrous materials, they are widely
employed in the industries due to the following properties.
i) Light in weight.
ii) Better resistance to corrosion.
iii) Higher electrical and thermal conductivity.
iv) Ease to fabrication. (casting, rolling, forging, welding and
machining)
v) Colour.
Various important non ferrous materials:
Cu, Al, Mg, Zn, Ni, Pb, Sb, & Ti
 Cu & Cu Alloys
Copper is one of the oldest and the most widely used non-ferrous
metals in industry.
Properties of Copper:
1. Copper possesses very high electrical conductivity. In fact, in
this respect it is second only to silver.

2. It also has very high thermal conductivity.

3. It exhibits excellent resistance to corrosion.

4. It is very soft, ductile and malleable.

5. It becomes brittle just below its melting point.
6. It can be worked in hot or cold condition, but it cannot be welded.
 Cu
Properties of pure copper:
& Cu Alloys
Extraction:
Cu & Cu Alloys
•Copper is extracted almost entirely from ores based on copper
pyrites.
•Copper pyrites refers a mineral in which copper is chemically
combined with iron and sulphur.
•First the copper ore is concentrated. Then it is converted into a
copper sulphide-iron sulphide matte.
•Oxygen introduced to the matte converts the iron sulphide into
iron oxide and the copper sulphide to an impure copper called
blister copper.
•This blister copper is then purified to obtain pure copper.
•The pure copper so obtained is of the order of 99% pure and it
may be refined to higher purities by electrolytic, or fire refining
techniques.
Applications:
Cu & Cu Alloys
• Copper is extensively used for manufacturing power cables,

telephone cables, cables for computer networks, printed circuit

boards, connectors, etc.

• Other grades of pure copper are used in the form of sheet for

architectural cladding and for shaping into articles such as

domestic water tanks and vessels used in the food and chemical

industries, and
• In the form of tubing for heat exchangers.

• It is mainly used in the manufacture of important alloys such as brass and

bronze.
Applications:
Cu & Cu Alloys
 Cu
Important copper alloys :
& Cu Alloys
1. Brasses (copper-zinc alloys),

2. Bronzes (copper-tin alloys),

3. Gun-metals (copper-tin-zinc alloys), and
4. Cupro nickels (copper-nickel alloys).
 Brass
Brass is an alloy of copper and zinc. A small amount addition of metals
such as tin, lead, aluminium and manganese also added.
•If zinc is upto 36%, it is called as α-brass which is relatively soft, ductile
and easily cold worked.
•When the zinc is more than 36%, have two phases α-phase and β-
phase at room temperature. These are harder and stronger than the α-
brass .
Characteristics:
i. Stronger than copper.
ii. Lower thermal and electrical conductivity than copper.
iii. Cast into moulds, drawn into wires, rolled into sheets and turned
into tubes.
iv. For improving machining properties, 1 – 3 % of Pb is added to brass.
v. Based on amount of Zn present, colour range from reddish to nearly
white.
Brass Types & Applications
 Bronze
Bronze is an alloy of copper and tin.
High strength alloy with good corrosion resistance than the brass.
•The strength of the bronze alloy increases with increase in the tin
content.
•Tin content needs to maintain below 12%, because they tend to be
brittle.
• Can be shaped or rolled into wires, rods and sheets.
Bronze types and applications
 Gun
Gun Metals :
Metal & Cupro-nickel
Alloy of copper, tin and zinc.
•Zinc act as a deoxidiser and improves the fluidity during casting.
•A small amount of lead is added to improve castability and machinability.
•Since zinc is cheaper than tin, the total cost of the alloy is reduced.

Cupro-nickels :
Alloy of copper and nickel.
•Copper and nickel mix well in all proportions in the solid state. Since
cupro-nickel alloy consists of only one phase- a uniform solid solution.
•Relatively ductile and malleable.
•Better corrosion resistance than many copper alloys in the sea water.
•Can be hot worked and cold worked.
•Can be shaped by rolling, forging, pressing, drawing, and spinning.
Gun Metal types & Applications
Cupro-nickel types & Applications

The another important copper alloy is a nickel silver. Nickel silver, also known as german silver, is an
alloy of Cu, Ni, and Zn.
The main use of nickel silver alloys is the manufacture of cutlery and decorative articles .
 Al & Al Alloys
Aluminium is one of the most abundant elements in the earth's
crust and also the most important of the non-ferrous metals.
Characteristics :
Pure aluminium is known for its outstanding characteristics. Some
of its main characteristics are :
•Light-weight (one-third the weight of steel),
•High thermal and electrical conductivity,
•Excellent corrosion resistance,
•Non-toxicity,
•Soft and ductile,
•Low specific gravity,
•High strength-to-weight ratio, and
•High reflectivity.
 Al &
Properties of pure aluminium:
Al Alloys
Extraction:
Al & Al Alloys
The aluminium is extracted from bauxite ores as follows:
(i) The bauxite is ground and then it is purified.
(ii) It is then dissolved in fused cryolite which is a double fluoride of
aluminium and sodium, A1F3, 3 NaF.
(iii) This solution is then taken to an electric furnace and the aluminium is
separated out by electrolysis.
Applications:
• The aluminium is chiefly used for making parts of aeroplane, cooking
utensils, electric wires, window frames, glazing bars, corrugated sheets,
foils, posts, furniture, precision surveying
instruments, surgical instruments, etc.
• It is used as a reducing agent in the manufacture of steels.
• It is used in the manufacture of electrical conductors and paints
in powder form.
 Al Vs Cu
Nowadays aluminium replaces the copper as an electrical conductor due to the
following reasons:

(i) The price of the aluminium is much lower than that of copper.

(ii) The specific gravity of aluminium is only 2.7 compared to 8.9 for copper.

(iii) The electrical conductivity of EC-grade (electrical conductor) aluminium is

61% of the conductivity of standard topper, based on equal cross sections.

(iv) If equal weights of aluminium and copper conductors of a given length are
compared, it is found that aluminium conducts 201% as much current as does
copper.
However, an important limitation of aluminium in this regard is the difficulty of
soldering or joining it. This can be overcome by chemically coating aluminium with
tin, followed by plating with other metals.
The pure aluminium has a very low strength. Hence for most engineering purposes,
aluminium is alloyed in order to obtain a higher strength/weight ratio.
 Al & Al Alloys
At room temperature, the mechanical properties of aluminium alloys are:
(i) interior to those of steel;

(ii) almost equal to those of copper alloys; and

(iii) superior to those of magnesium alloys.
• The aluminium may be alloyed with one or more alloying elements such as
Cu, Mg, Mn, Si, and Ni.
• The addition of small amounts of alloying elements convert the soft and
weak aluminium metal into hard and strong one, while retaining its light
weight property.
Types of Al Alloys:
1. Heat-treatable aluminium alloys, and
2. Non-heat treatable aluminium alloys
1.
Al & Al
Heat-treatable aluminium alloys :
Alloys
The heat-treatable alloys cannot be strengthened by using a special type of
heat treatment such as age hardening or precipitation hardening.

1. Al-Cu alloys, 2. Al-Cu-Ni alloys,

3. Al-Mg-Si alloys, 4. Al-Zn-Cu alloys, and 5. Al-Li alloys.

2. Non-heat treatable aluminium alloys :

These alloys may be strengthened by cold working operations.
I. Al-Mn alloys, 2. Al-Mg alloys, and3. Al-Si alloys
However, our study is limited to only AI-Cu alloy system.
The two important Al-Cu alloys are:
1. Duralumin, and
2. Y-alloy.
Al & Al Alloys
 PRECIPITATION STRENGTHENING TREATMENT
(AGE HARDENING)
•Precipitation hardening, also known as age hardening, is the most
important method of improving the physical properties of some of the
non-ferrous alloys by solid state reaction.
•It is mostly applicable to the alloys of aluminium, magnesium and nickel.
It is occasionally used for the alloys of copper and iron.
•Examples of alloys that are hardened by precipitation treatment
aluminium-copper, copper-beryllium, copper-tin, and magnesium-
aluminium.
•This process is called precipitation hardening because the fine precipitate
particles of the new phase are formed in this hardening process.
 PRECIPITATION STRENGTHENING TREATMENT
(AGE HARDENING)
• The process of precipitation heat treatment consists of three steps. The
three step process is explained for an aluminium alloy, say AI-4% Cu
alloy (called duralumin) below.
• Three steps in the precipitation hardening heat treatment together with
the microstructures that are produced.
Step 1: Solution treatment:
•First the alloy is heated above the solvus temperature to obtain its solid solution.
•The alloy is held at this temperature until a homogeneous solid solution a is produced.
•This step dissolves the θ precipitate and reduces any segregation present in the original alloy.
•AI - 4% Cu alloy is solution-treated between 500°C and 548°C.
Step 2 : Quenching process:
•After solution treatment, the alloy (which contains only a structures) is quenched i.e., rapidly
cooled.
•On this rapid cooling, there is no sufficient time for diffusion of Cu atoms to form the
precipitate particles. Therefore a supersaturated solid solution αss (containing excess Cu) is
obtained at room temperature, as shown in figure. be noted that αss is not a stable structure.
Step 3 : Ageing process
PRECIPITATION STRENGTHENING TREATMENT
(AGE HARDENING)
 PRECIPITATION STRENGTHENING TREATMENT
(AGE HARDENING)
Step3 : Ageing process:
•Finally, the supersaturated solid solution ass is heated below the solvus temperature.
•At this ageing temperature, the diffusion of unstable αss may take place and precipitate particles
can form.
•Then, if we hold the alloy for a sufficient time at the ageing temperature, the stable α + CuAl2 (θ)
structure is produced, as shown in figure.
•This fine precipitate particles of CuAl2 increase the hardness and strength of the alloy.

•The ageing process done at room temperature is often called

natural ageing. Natural ageing takes a prolonged period of time in
terms of several days to reach maximum strength.
•Ageing at high temperature of 190°C to 260°C accelerates the
precipitation process and the time required is reduced considerably.
This process is called artificial ageing.
•However, natural ageing achieves maximum strength than that of
the artificial ageing .
 Bearing Materials / Alloys
The materials which are used for making bearings are known as

bearing materials.
Characteristics :
1. Possess sufficient hardness and wear resistance.
2. Have a low coefficient of friction.
3. Be tough, shock-resistant, and sufficiently ductile.
4. Have a sufficient melting point.
5. Have high thermal conductivity.
6. Have good casting qualities.
7. Have good resistance to corrosion.
 Bearing Materials
The widely used bearing materials are:
/ Alloys
1. White metals, 2. Copper-base alloys,
3. Aluminium-base alloys, 4. Plastic materials, and
5. Ceramics.
White Bearing Metals:
a. Tin-base bearing alloys
Babbit Metals: Sb 10%, Sn 82%, Cu 4%, Pb 4%.
better-quality high-duty bearing metals than the lead-base bearing
alloys.
Uses: use in many medium- and high-duty bearing applications,
particularly in the automotive industries.
b. Lead-base bearing alloys
Sb 13%, Sn 12%, Cu 0.75%, As 0.25%, Pb 74%
Uses: for low pressure/low speed bearing applications.