MME 291 : Lecture 7

Copper and its Alloys

Md. Rafiqul Islam

Department of MME
BUET, Dhaka
 Properties of pure copper
Cu-Zn alloys system
Bronzes - properties and applications
Properties and applications of other
important copper alloys

Reference:
1.SH Avner. Introduction to Physical Metallurgy, 2nd Ed., Ch. 8.
2. R .A.Higgins. Materials for Engineers and Technicians.
 Introduction
Ranked 3rd behind iron/steel and aluminium in terms of production
and consumption

Available in variety of product forms: 1 ) wrought products , 2)

castings 3) P/M methods etc.

Properties: High electrical and thermal conductivity ,good

machinability , strength ,ease of fabrication and non-magnetic etc
 Commercial grades of copper
Oxygen-free high-conductivity (OFHC) copper
Electrically refined variety
99.97% purity; contains <10 ppm oxygen; highest electrical conductivity
No oxygen embrittlement effect; readily weldable
Used as conductor, electronic tubes and similar application as seal to glass
Tough-pitch’ copper
Fire refined variety
Contains 0.02 – 0.05% oxygen as Cu2O
Cu2O + H2 = 2Cu + H2O (gas welding)
roofing, gutters, automobile radiators and gaskets, kettles, pressure vessels
Deoxidised Copper
About 0.02% phosphorous is added to tough-pitch copper

Casting to remove oxygen globules.

A small increase in tensile strength.

Arsenical copper
About 0.3% arsenic added to improve corrosion

Used in condenser and heat exchanger applications

Free-cutting copper
About 0.6% tellurium added to obtain excellent machining properties

Used in bolts, studs, welding tips, electrical parts such as contact pins etc
 Strengthening methods
Two principal methods used:
1. Work hardening
Single-phase copper alloys strengthened significantly by cold working

FCC copper has excellent ductility and a high strain-hardening coefficient

2. Alloying

a) Solid solution strengthening

A number of copper alloys contain large quantities of alloying elements,

yet remain as single phase, e.g., brass (<40% Zn), bronze (<10%Sn)

b)Precipitation hardening

A number of copper alloys display age-hardening response,

e.g., Be-Cu system.

 Copper Alloys
1. Brasses – alloys of Cu and Zn
(a) Alpha brass – single phase alloys containing up to 36% Zn
i) Red brasses – 5 to 20% Zn
ii) Yellow brasses – 20 to 36% Zn
(b) Alpha plus beta brasses – double phase alloys containing 38 – 40% Zn
2. Bronzes – alloys of Cu and up to 10% elements other than Zn
3. Cupronickel – alloys of copper and nickel
4. Nickel silver – alloys of copper, nickel and zinc
Copper – Zinc System
Copper alloys containing <50% Zn are of
commercial importance.
Cored structure of a solid solution formed.
Peritectic reaction @ 905 ͦC : α + L = β
Amount of β is decreased as T decreases due
to limited solubility
For <46.6% Zn, α crystals precipitated out;
for >46.6% Zn,  crystals precipitated out.
Between 453 – 470 ̊ C, randomly-ordered –β
phase transforms into an ordered β’-phase
(shown as dotted lines).
Red Alpha Brass (5 to 20% Zn)
• Structure contains single phase a solid solution.
• Better corrosion resistant than yellow alpha brass and
• Not susceptible to season cracking or dezincification
Yellow Alpha Brass (20 to 36.8% Zn)
• Structure contains single phase a solid solution.
• Tough and ductile; one of the most malleable and ductile
metallurgical materials.
• Widely used for deep drawing and general presswork applications
Season cracking or Stress-corrosion cracking
Intergrannular corrosion (particularly in ammonia atmosphere)

Resulted due to the high residual stresses

left after severe cold working operation

Can be removed by stress-relief annealing Dezincification

Dezincification
Pitting corrosion resulted in contact with sea water or fresh water with high
O2 and CO2 content.

Dissolution of alloy caused deposition of porous non-adherent copper.

Small amount of tin or antimony minimize dezincification process.

 Alpha plus Beta Brasses (More than 36.8% Zn) .More than 50% Zn not useful

Muntz metal (α as dark and β’ as light)

After heat treatment (α as dark and β as light)

 Tensile Properties
Properties of brass depends on the volume of the phases present.
Tensile strength and ductility increase in α-region due to solid solution
strengthening;
ductility reaches a maximum at 30% Zn.
Presence of – β’ phase causes a considerable drop in ductility but
rapidly increases the tensile strength up to a maximum when the alloy
contains all β’ -phase.
The strength falls rapidly at the appearance of the weak and brittle -
phase.
The shock resistance decreases while the hardness increases
 Bronzes
Alloys of copper and tin, aluminium, silicon, or beryllium.
Copper – tin system

The final microstructure :

cored α solid solution+brittle
intermetallic compound δ (Cu31Sn8 )

 Up to 1 % (7% )Sn
Single phase and used as wrought alloy

From 10 – 18 % Sn
The structure contains (α + δ)
 Cupronickel
Nickel alloys containing up to 30% nickel

Complete solid solubility i.e Cu-Ni alloys are single phase

They are not susceptible to heat treatment;

High resistance to corrosion fatigue and corrosive and erosive

actions in sea water
 Nickel silver
These are ternary alloys of copper, nickel (5-30%) and zinc (5-40%).
Nickel silver containing over 60% Cu are single phase alloys
Easily cold-workable at room temperature
They make excellent base metals for plating with Cr, Ni or Ag

Nickel silver containing between 50-60% Cu are two-phase

Have reasonably high modulus of elasticity and,
like (α+β) brasses, are hot-workable