NON FERROUS ALLOYS

• Do not contain iron as main constituent.

• Copper, Aluminium, Tungsten, Molybdenum, Titanium
• More expensive and weaker than ferrous metals.
• Have
• Corrosion resistance
• High thermal and electrical conductivity
• Low density
• Ease of fabrication, etc.
 COPPER & ITS ALLOYS
• Can be used in pure and alloy form.
• In pure form has wide range of industrial applications.
• Properties
• High electrical and thermal conductivity
• Good corrosion resistance
• Ease of fabrication
• Good soldering and joining characteristics
• Moderate strength
• Moderate hardness
• Important alloying elements
• Zinc, tin, nickel, silver.
 PURE COPPER
• Copper is non-polymorphous metal with face centered cubic lattice
(FCC).
• Pure copper is a reddish color.
• Zinc addition produces a yellow color, and nickel addition produces a
silver color.
• Melting temperature is 1083 °C and density is 8900 kg.m-3, which is
three times heavier than aluminum.
• The heat and electric conductivity of copper is lower compared to the
silver, but it is 1.5 times larger compared to the aluminum.
FCC Lattice Natural Copper
 PURE COPPER-USES
• High thermal conductivity
• Locomotive fire box plates
• Radiator elements
• Domestic boilers
• Cooking utensils
• Kettles
• High electrical conductivity
• Electrical conductors
• Switch-gear parts
• Telegraph and telephone wires and cables
Microstructure of pure copper
Microstructure of cast Cu
Microstructure of wrought Cu with uniform polyhedral grains and
annealing twins, white light
 COPPER ALLOYS
• Most alloying elements form substitutional solid solutions, except in
age hardening.
• Copper alloys remain in single phase(α-phase) with FCC structure.
• High concentrations of zinc or aluminium forms second phase(β-
phase) BCC structure.
 BRASS
• Alloy of copper and zinc.
• Brasses have two types of crystal structures
• α-brasses
• β-brasses
• α-brasses are solid solutions of zinc in copper with FCC structure.
• Max solubility of zinc in the α-phase is about 38%.
• Good corrosion resistance, high strength and ductility.
• Electrical conductivity decreases with increase in zinc content.
• With increase in zinc content β-phase with BCC structure starts to
form.
• Brasses with 40% zinc have α and β phases.
• Around 50% zinc complete β-phase is found.
• Addition of zinc increases ductility and strength.
• Dezincification- special corrosion problem with high zinc brasses.
• Under corrosion environment zinc corrodes and leaves holes in the
alloy making it porous, weak and prone to breakdown.
• Special inhibitors(0.02-0.05%) phosphorous, antimony or arsenic
are added to overcome the problem.

• Stress corrosion (season cracking)- corrosion occurring in winter due

to condensation of moisture.
• Can be prevented by minimizing residual stresses.
 OTHER TYPES OF BRASSES
Name Composition Properties Applications
Copper Zinc % Others
% %
Cartridge brass 70 30 -- Ductile, excellent cold Wires, rods, tubes –by pressing
working properties Cartridge cases, locomotive and
condenser tubes
Admiralty brass 70 29 1- tin Corrosion resistance Condenser tubes and marine parts
Muntz metal or 60 40 -- Strong, hard and more Valves, marine fittings, fuses and
Yellow brass ductile electrical equipment
Leaded brass 62.5 36 1.5- Pb Good machinability, Gears, screws, screw machine parts
Low ductility and high
impact values
Naval brass 60 39 1-Sn good corrosion Conderser plates, propeller shafts,
resistance against salt marine parts
water
 BRONZES
• Alloy of copper and tin.
• Also called as phosphor bronze due to its presence(upto 0.3%).
• Low coefficient of friction.
• Can be rolled into sheets or cast into intricate castings.
• Stronger than brasses.
• Better corrosion resistance.
• Any other alloying element except zinc, it is termed as bronze-
aluminium bronze, silver bronze, etc.
 TYPES OF BRONZES
Name Composition Properties Applications

Copper Tin % Others

% %
Phosphor 93.7 6 0.3- P Good cast ability, Springs, gears and bearings
bronze high fatigue strength
Aluminium 90 – 95 - 5 – 10 Corrosion resistance Marine engineering guides,
bronze Al and high strength seats, flanges, moulding dies for
plastics and condenser tubes

Gun metal 88 10 2- Zn High strength, Casting guns, boiler fitting,

toughness, resistance bolts, nuts and for many parts in
to sea water corrosion naval construction

Bell metal 80 20 --- Hard and resistant to Making bells, gongs, utensils
surface water
Silicon 97.5 --- 2.5- Si good corrosion Marine applications and high
bronze resistance and strength fasteners.
strength
 Copper – Nickel Alloys
• Ductile and are hardened, strengthened by cold working.
• 70% Cu, 30% Ni – cupronickel
• Strong, ductile, excellent corrosion resistant
• Widely used for heat exchangers and turbine blades
• Has both corrosive and erosive resistance.
• 55% Cu, 27% Zn, 18% Ni – Nickel Silver(German Silver)
• B etter corrosion resistance than brass
• Dezincification is decreased with increase in nickel content
• Strength can be increased by cold working
• Ductile
• Used for decorative purposes, cutlery, rivets, screws, etc.
• 55% Cu, 45% Ni – Constantan
• Highest electrical resistivity
• Lowest temperature coefficient
• Used for electrical resistors and theremocouples.
ALUMINIUM & ITS ALLOYS
• Most important engineering material
• It is
• A good electrical conductor
• Ductile
• Can be easily cast and machined
• Lighter than all engineering metals( except Mg and Be)
• Good corrosion resistance
 Advantages
• Good thermal & electrical conductivity
• High strength to weight ratio
• Good corrosion resistance
• High reflectivity
• Die casted or welded( alloys)
• Easily machined
• Good formability
• Non magnetic
• Non toxic
• Has relatively low modulus of elasticity
• Application areas
• Transportation
• Construction
• Electrical applications
• Containers
• Packaging and mechanical equipment
 Classification
• Wrought alloys & cast alloys
• Wrought alloys – shaped by plastic deformation- 7% of (Cu, Mn, Mg)
• Good formability characteristics like
• Low yield strength
• High ductility
• Good fracture resistance
• Obtained in the form of sheets, bars, tubes
• Classified as
• Heat treated alloys
• Non heat treated alloys
 Difference between cast and wrought Al alloys:
• Since cast parts avoid most fabrication techniques, the price of a
fixture can be lower.
• Cast parts are invariably thicker and heavier than the equivalent
fabrication. This simply increases the dead weight that goes through
each heat treat cycle. With radiant tubes and muffles, thicker cast walls
increase fuel costs for the same volume of work heat treated. Wrought
alloys are available down to nearly foil thicknesses. Thinner sections
often permit weight reductions of 50% or more.
• Certain shapes can be cast that are not commonly available hot rolled,
or that cannot be fabricated economically from available wrought
product forms.
• The smooth surface of a wrought alloy helps avoid focal points for
accelerated corrosion by molten salts or carbon deposits.
• Thinner sections reduce the amount of internal thermal stresses within
the material. This allows for inherently greater ductility in wrought
materials that promote better resistance to thermal cycling and thermal
shock.
• Wrought materials are normally free of the internal and external
defects such as shrink and porosity that are common problems in
castings.
• Similar compositions are inherently stronger at high temperatures in
the cast forms over wrought grades. This is because of the
microstructure, as well as the higher carbon contents that are typical in
a casting.