TIN

Tin is a chemical element with the symbol Sn (from Latin: stannum) and atomic number 50. Tin
is a silvery metal that characteristically has a faint yellow hue. Tin (Sn) was first used as an
alloying element with copper to form bronze, which is much more easily castable than copper
and enabled the creation of more complex castings. It is a soft metal with a shiny silver color and
is very corrosion resistant in air and water. Tin's corrosion resistance helps it serve in bronze and
pewter alloys, as a durable component of electrical solder, and as protective plating for other
metals.
History:
Tin is an essential metal in the creation of tin bronzes, and its acquisition was an important part
of ancient cultures from the Bronze Age onward. Its use began in the Middle East and the
Balkans around 3000 BC. Tin is a relatively rare element in the Earth's crust, with about 2 parts
per million (ppm), compared to iron with 50,000 ppm, copper with 70 ppm, lead with 16 ppm,
arsenic with 5 ppm, silver with 0.1 ppm, and gold with 0.005 ppm. Ancient sources of tin were
therefore rare, and the metal usually had to be traded over very long distances to meet demand in
areas which lacked tin deposits.
Crystal structure:
White tin has a body-centred tetragonal crystal structure, and gray tin has a face-centred cubic
structure.

Properties:
Tin is one of the weakest metals. You can, for example, bend or crush a tin can with your bare
hands. This property does not allow tin to be used on its own as a structural metal. Tin is a very
ductile metal at room temperature, and is also quite malleable. When chilled below 55 F, tin
slowly changes from a form known as “beta tin” to “alpha tin,” which is much less ductile. Tin is
also much less ductile above roughly 392 F. Tin and some of its alloys are excellent electrical
conductors. Over half of the tin used industrially ends up in solder for making electrical
connections. Following tables show some of the mechanical,chemical and physical properties of
tin
Mechanical Properties
The mechanical properties of tin are tabulated below.
Properties Metric Imperial
Tensile strength 220 MPa 31900 psi
Modulus of elasticity (Cast) 41.6 Gpa 6030 ksi
Shear modulus 15.6 Gpa 2260 ksi
Hardness, Brinell 2.3 2.3
Chemical Properties
The chemical properties of tin are provided in the table below:
Chemical Data
CAS number 7440-31-5
Thermal neutron cross section 0.65 barns/atom
Electrode potential -0.140 V
Ionic radius 0.710 Å
Electro negativity 1.96
X-ray absorption edge 0.42468 Å
Electrochemical equivalent 1.107 g/A/h
Physical Properties
The following table discusses the physical properties of tin.
Properties Metric Imperial
Density 5.765 g/cm3 0.208 lb/in3
Melting point 231.96 °C 449.543 °F
Boiling point 2602 °C 4716 °F

True stress strain curve:

The true stress strain curve of tin is shown below:
Tin Alloys:
Tin is known as one of the first alloying metal.There are a number of tin alloys that have vast
applications.Some of the most commonly used tin based alloys that we will study include:
 Bronze
 Pewter
 Tin Lead Solder
 Bronze
History:
One theory suggests that bronze may have been discovered when copper and tin-rich rocks were
used to build campfire rings. As the stones became heated by the fire, the metals contained in the
rocks were melted and mixed. It is thought that Bronze properly appeared in the region around
3000 BC.The Bronze Age is the name given to the time period when bronze was the hardest
metal that was widely used. This was the 4th millennium BC about the time of the city of Sumer
in the Near East. The bronze age in China and India occurred at roughly the same time. Even
during the Bronze Age, there were a few items crafted from meteoritic iron, but the smelting of
iron was uncommon. The Bronze Age was followed by the Iron Age, starting around 1300 BC.
Even during the Iron Age, bronze was widely used.
Composition:
Bronze is a alloy made of copper and another metal, usually tin. Compositions vary, but most
modern bronze is 88% copper and 12% tin. Bronze may also contain manganese, aluminum,
nickel, phosphorus, silicon, arsenic, or zinc

Composition
12%

Copper
Tin

88%

There are three Major Classes of Bronze used in Sculptures and Construction.
 Statuary Bronze:Approximately 97% copper,2%tin and 1%zinc
 Architectural Bronze:Actually more of ‘leaded brass’,is commonly composed of 57%
copper,40% zinc and 3%lead.

 Commercial Bronze:Commonly composed of 90% copper and 10% zinc

Aluminium Bronze: Aluminium is main alloying metal added to copper.Alumunium Bronze is
mostly used in applictaions where their resistance to corrosion makes them preferable to other
enginnering materials.
Crystal Structure:

Bronze has a face centered cubic crystal lattice.The angles are different depending upon
tempreture and amount of tin in Bronze.The Bonds are metallic bonds.
Properties:
They are tough and Ductile at all tempretures and retain their strength.They are brittle (but less
so than Iron).Low friction against other Metals.Oxides to produce coloured patina.Expands when
hardening from Liquid to Solid.Do not produce spark when struck hard.Extreamly Mallaeble and
Durable.Melts at 950 degree Centigrate.Metal Fattigue more than steel.Its resonance makes it
ideal fo casting bell.Following are some of the properties of bronze.

Physical Properties Metric English Comments

Density 8.8 g/cc 0.318 lb/in³ at 20°C (68°F)
Mechanical Properties
Hardness, Rockwell B 85 85
Tensile Strength,
550 MPa 79800 psi
Ultimate
Tensile Strength, Yield 450 Mpa 65300 psi
Elongation at Break 33 % 33 % in 50 mm
Modulus of Elasticity 110 Gpa 16000 ksi
Poisson’s Ratio 0.341 0.341
UNS C36000 (free-cutting brass)
Machinability 20 % 20 %
= 100%
Shear Modulus 41 Gpa 5950 ksi
Electrical Properties
1.33e-005 ohm- 1.33e-005 ohm-
Electrical Resistivity at 20°C (68°F)
cm cm
Thermal Properties
CTE, linear 250°C 18.2 µm/m-°C 10.1 µin/in-°F from 20-300°C (68-570°F)
0.0908 BTU/lb-
Heat Capacity 0.38 J/g-°C
°F
430 BTU-in/hr-
Thermal Conductivity 62 W/m-K at 20°C (68°F)
ft²-°F
Melting Point 880 – 1025 °C 1620 – 1880 °F
Solidus 880 °C 1620 °F
Liquidus 1025 °C 1880 °F
Processing Properties

Annealing
475 – 675 °C 887 – 1250 °F
Temperature

Stress Strain Graph of Bronze

Stress strain graph of Bronze

 Stress-strain curves for ITER bronze strand B4, bronze strand B5

Phase Diagram:

Phase diagram for alloys of copper and tin (bronze). The area above the bold line represent
molten alloy. Different mixtures of copper and tin form many kinds of solid phases represented
by the patchwork of regions below the curve. Note that the melting point falls sharply as the tin
content exceeds 90%.In terms of alpha beta and gamma it is given below:
Applications:
Bronze is used in architecture for structural and design elements, for bearings because of its
friction properties.Phosphor bronze in musical instruments, electrical contacts, and ship
propellers.Bronze has been used to make coins. Most "copper" coins are actually bronze,
consisting of copper with 4% tin and 1% zinc.Bronze has been used since ancient times to make
sculptures.Aluminium bronze is very hard and as such widely used in springs, bushings bearings
and car gearbox bearings as well as being common in the bearings of smaller electric
motors.Unlike stainless steel, bronze will not generate sparks when struck against hard surfaces.
This property makes it ideal for use in hammers, mallets and other tools used in environments
containing flammable vapours, as oil rigs do.Phosphor bronze is also used for ships propellers.
Cost and availability:
Bronze expenses $1.50 per pound and is widely available as of December 2019
 PEWTER
Pewter is an alloy of tin. It is used to make decorative objects, crockery, jewelry, statues, coins
and aircraft models.
History:
In the previous era pewter was made up of tin and lead. But lead is poisonous for human health
so now lead based pewter is used in small number of applications. This alloy of tin was made in
China about 2000 years ago. Egyptians also used it in early 3700 BC. It was also used by
Romans for office stamps and for other devices. In the middle era, tin, lead and copper were the
major export of England. In early ages, it was mostly used for utensils. Nowadays pewter is not
only used by sculptors but it has many applications.
Composition:
Pewter is mainly composed of tin. In ancient times it was composed of 75% tin and 25% lead.
But lead is toxic in nature. Now pewter is composed of 89 to 90% lead, 8 to 10% antimony or
copper and 1to 2% bismuth. It has silvery gray appearance. Its melting point is between 170 o-
230o C.

Manufacturing:
Pewter is made from sheets prepared by cold reduction of slabs or cast bars. Tin rich pewter
alloys having copper and antimony are work hardened during sheet rolling which involve 20%
reduction. If it is left at room temperature it will crystallize and soften until it reverts to the
hardness of slab or cast bar. If large reduction is made such as 90%, the alloy will soften but as
the crystal size increases hardness increases but will not hardened as original slab.Several
processes are used to make fine pewter for domestic utensils. Which includes casting, turning
and fabricating.
Properties:
Now we will discuss mechanical ,chemical and physical properties of pewter.Pewter has small
number of applications in mechanical industry. It is mostly used for making models of different
things and for making domestic utensils. Due to its small applications, research done on this
alloy is very limited.Tin is a soft material but when other elements like antimony or lead is added
then hardness increases but to small extent. That is why pewter is heat treated due to which its
strength increases. Also it is malleable and ductile in nature. It can be molded and shaped
without becoming brittle. In these days, industries which make pewter has tensile strength of
8600psi and lead free pewter has tensile strength between 7000 to 7800 psi. Pewter is corrosive
in nature but when lead is present in pewter its corrosion reduces.Pewter is sensitive towards
heat. Utensils made from pewter cannot be used over an open flame or in microwave
oven.Pewter is also conductor of heat and electricity.
Phase Diagram:

In this lead base pewter, we can see that at the eutectic point the pewter is composed of 62% tin
and 38% lead. Where the melting temperature at eutectic point is 183 oC.In the liquid mixture
(αPb+L) above solidus line Pb is dominant element likewise in liquid mixture (βSn+L) Sn is
dominant element. It also shows that melting temperature of tin is 232 oC and melting point of
lead is 327oC.
Applications:
Mostly pewter is used for domestic utensils and for making models of different aircrafts. Pewter
in this era has small number of applications in industrial field. It is used in manufacturing of
microelectronics. It is also used for die casting in making of vehicle road arms. It is used to make
jewelry. White metals which are tin based alloys are widely in our use which contains 89% tin,
7.5% antimony and 3.5% copper (ASTM B23 alloy 2) is actually pewter and used for making
bearings used for low stress applications.
Failure:
Figure shows the increased fatigue strength obtained as the thickness of the whitemetal layer is
reduced.

Cost and availability:

Nowadays pewter is mostly used by sculptors. Its availability depends upon the tin. Tin prices
fluctuates between 7 to 11 dollars per pound as of December 2019. Antiques are usually made up
of pewter which can be expensive. But you can get pewter from scrap for 5 to 8 dollars per
pound.
 Tin Lead Solder
Hiatory:
There is evidence that soldering was employed as early as 5000 years ago in Mesopotamia.
Composition:
The word eutectic solder describes a solder alloy that melts and freezes at one single
temperature.a good example of this is tin 63% and 37%lead which melts and freezes at 183
C.This melting point is much lower than the melting point of either pure metal which are 232
C(tin) and 327 C(lead).
Properties:

Some of the mechanical,chemical and physical properties of tin lead solder are given by tables
below:
Stress strain curve:
Phase Diagram:

Eutectic point and different phases as per temperature are shown in the figure below:

Fatigue and failure:Fatigue is the weakening of a material caused by cyclic loading that results
in progressive and localized structural damage and the growth of cracks
Cost and availability:
The cost 0f 10g 0.8mm 60/40 tin lead solder wire rosin core soldering 2%flux reel tube is almost
5$

and is widely available as of december 2019.