CONTROLVALVESI

Materialof Gonstruction
By Arrwish Chopra
CEO - AnergyInstrwnentsPut. Ltd., Foridrtbad
callfor valvebodymade iron', but actually it is not a single material, it is a family of
anycontrolvalvespecifications
of brass,gunmetalor bronzefor sizes50mm diameter materialswhosemajor constituent is iron with varying amounts
and below,and castiron for sizes65mmdiameterand of carbon and silicon. Cast irons arenatural composite materials
whose properties are determined by their microstructures'
Cyey lron - Grey iron is an iron alloy characterizedby
its relatively high carbon content, usually 7o/oto 4o/o' When
molten iron solidifiessomeof the carbonprecipitatesasgraphite,
forming tiny, irregular flakeswithin the crystal sffucture of the
metal. The presenceof graphite flakesgive grey iron excellent
casting,machining and self-lubricating properties,but distrupt
the crystal structure providing a nucleation point for cracks,
leading to grey iron's characteristic brittleness.
Ductile lrut -lnductile iron the graphite is in the form of
sphericalnodulesrather than flakes,thuinhibitlng the creation
Gopper Alloys
Copper was the first metal used by man and it was soon of cracksand providing enhancedductility' It is alsoknown as
found that its propertiescould be improved by alloying' Brass, S.G. iron or nodular iron. It was invented around 1948.
Its high tensile strength, ductility and easeof casting
gunmetal and bronze are all alloys of copper with different
makes
it material of choice for applications where use of
percentages
of zinc, tin and lreadas alloying elements'
'
is
expensive. It has replaced many components in the
Early
steel
Brurie- Bronzewasthe fiist copper alloy usedby man.
industry.
automotive
together
that
occurs
bronze was an alloy of copper and arsenic
context, ductile iron can replace copper alloy
HVAC
In
and
was
favour
for
its
toxicity
fell
of
out
naturally. Later on, arsenic
without increasing the wall thickness and
valve
bodies
more
harder
and
makes
the
alloy
of
tin
Addition
by
tin.
replaced
component weight. It can alsobe usedto replacethe grey iron
corrosion resistant then the virgin metal, thus more useful.
Bronzewaswidely useduntil iron becamecheaperand more valve bodies with increasedstrength and pressurerating'
To summarise,all copper alloys have excellent resistance
plentiful. Bronze is harder and tougher than any other copper
to corrosion but eachhas its distinct advantages.Brassis most
alloy. In HVAC context bronze is more suitable for valves for
suitable for forged and die-casted valve bbdies, gunmetal is
high-pressurehot water and steam applications'
more suitable for sand casting and bronze is more suitable for
Brcss Brassesare copper alloys in which the principal
high pressureand temperatureapplications.
alloying element is zinc. Their properties depend primarily
Grey iron can be usedfor casting all kinds of valve bodies,
upon the proportion of zinc present. Most commonly
.
These
brasses
are
except of very imall sizeswith thin sections,whereasDuctile/
used brassescontain 30Vo 40o/oof zinc.
iron overcomesthis weaknessand can be usedto.
Nodular/S.G.
can
and
room
temperature,
characterizedby their ductility at
from lessthan 20 gramsto more than 200
produce
components
spinning,
bending,
rolling,
drawing,
by
be extensivelydeformed
as
small as 2mm to more than 500mm.
sizes
tons
of
section
forging.
and
deep-drawing
Going back to the specifications, the other most likely
The combination of ductility, machinability and strength
reasonsfor biasfavoring copper alloys could have been the easeof
makesthis material most suitable for small valve bodies,with
manufacturing,possibilityof usingthin wall sections,thusreducing
thin wall sections,which are either forged or die-casted.
component weight, and not very high price differential.
Qunmetal. It is a copper alloy containing both zinc and
But in today's scenario when, copper alloys have become
tin asalloying elements. It wasdevelopedby British admiralty
for ordnancepartsby adding zinc to bronze,to improve casting much more expensive,improved foundry practiceshave made
it possible and easierto cast small components of grey iron,
characteristics.
particularly
as
and development of ductile iron has made it possibleto cast
good
casting characteristics,
Gunmetal has
with thin sections,it is time to rewrite these
components
valve
bodies
casted
for
sand
It
is
most
suited
a sand casting.
and remove the unnecessarybias towardscopper
specifications
resistance
and
corrosion
pressure
tightness
high
strength,
where
alloys.
are important.
Small valves of forgedbrassare likely to remain popular for
lrcn Alloys
'grey
'cast
{'
the easeof manufacturing, thus low overall cost.
iron' generally refers to
Cast lron - The terms

above. These specificationsseemto have been in usefor over

half-a-century and show a bias towardscopper alloys over cast
iron for small sizedvalves.
The reasonsfor this bias could be many, the easiestbeing
the better corrosion resistanceof copper alloys,but that seems
unlikely in HVAC systemswhere most of the piping itself is of
mild-steel,prone to corrosion.
The intent of this article is to go through the characteristics
and physical propertiesof someof the copper and iron alloys to
find out other reasonsfor this bias and its relevance today.

* January'March2009
134 AirConditioningandRefrigerationJournal