Nonferrous Metals and Alloys

By: Engr. Marizen B. Contreras

 Copper
• Copper is a chemical element with the symbol
Cu (from Latin: cuprum) and atomic number 29.
• It is a ductile metal with very high thermal and
electrical conductivity.
• Pure copper is soft and malleable; a freshly
exposed surface has a reddish-orange color.
• It is used as a conductor of heat and electricity, a
building material, and a constituent of various
metal alloys.
Native copper
 Treatment of Copper Ores
• Copper extraction techniques refers to the
methods for obtaining copper from its ores.
• The conversion of copper consists of a series
of chemical, physical, and electrochemical
processes. Methods have evolved and vary
with country depending on the ore source,
local environmental regulations, and other
factors.
• Concentration
• Froth Floatation
• Hydrometallurgical extraction
– Sulfide ores
– Oxide ores
• Sulfide smelting
– Roasting
– Smelting
• Reverberatory furnace smelting
• Flash furnace smelting
– Converting
– Fire refining
– Electrorefining
 Zinc
• Zinc, in commerce also spelter, is a metallic chemical
element; it has the symbol Zn and atomic number 30.
• Zinc is the 24th most abundant element in the Earth's
crust and has five stable isotopes.
• The most common zinc ore is sphalerite (zinc blende),
a zinc sulfide mineral. The largest mineable amounts
are found in Australia, Asia, and the United States.
• Zinc production includes froth flotation of the ore,
roasting, and final extraction using electricity
(electrowinning).
 Aluminum
• Aluminium is a chemical element in the boron group
with symbol Al and atomic number 13.
• It is a silvery white, soft, ductile metal.
• Aluminium is the third most abundant element
(after oxygen and silicon), and the most abundant
metal, in the Earth's crust.
• Aluminium metal is so chemically reactive that
native specimens are rare and limited to extreme
reducing environments.
• The chief ore of aluminium is bauxite.
• Aluminium is remarkable for the metal's low
density and for its ability to resist corrosion due to
the phenomenon of passivation.
• Structural components made from aluminium and
its alloys are vital to the aerospace industry and
are important in other areas of transportation and
structural materials.
• The most useful compounds of aluminium, at least
on a weight basis, are the oxides and sulfates
 Tin
• Tin is a chemical element with symbol Sn (for Latin:
stannum) and atomic number 50.
• Tin is the 49th most abundant element and has, with
10 stable isotopes, the largest number of stable
isotopes in the periodic table.
• Tin is obtained chiefly from the mineral cassiterite,
where it occurs as tin dioxide, SnO2.
• This silvery, malleable other metal is not easily
oxidized in air and is used to coat other metals to
prevent corrosion.
 Lead
• Lead is a chemical element in the carbon group with
symbol Pb (from Latin: plumbum) and atomic number 82.
• Lead is a soft and malleable metal, which is regarded as a
heavy metal and an other metal.
• Metallic lead has a bluish-white color after being freshly
cut, but it soon tarnishes to a dull grayish color when
exposed to air.
• Lead has a shiny chrome-silver luster when it is melted
into a liquid.
• It is also the heaviest non-radioactive element.
• Lead is used in building construction, lead-acid
batteries, bullets and shot, weights, as part of
solders, pewters, fusible alloys, and as a
radiation shield.
• Lead has the highest atomic number of all of
the stable elements, although the next higher
element, bismuth, has a half-life that is so long
(over one billion times the estimated age of
the universe) that it can be considered stable.
 Titanium
• Titanium is a chemical element with the
symbol Ti and atomic number 22.
• It is a lustrous transition metal with a silver
color, low density and high strength.
• It is highly resistant to corrosion in sea water,
aqua regia and chlorine.
• Titanium can be alloyed with iron, aluminium,
vanadium, and molybdenum, among other elements,
to produce strong, lightweight alloys for aerospace
(jet engines, missiles, and spacecraft), military,
industrial process (chemicals and petro-chemicals,
desalination plants, pulp, and paper), automotive,
agri-food, medical prostheses, orthopedic implants,
dental and endodontic instruments and files, dental
implants, sporting goods, jewelry, mobile phones,
and other applications.
 Copper-Zinc Alloys
• Brass is an alloy made of copper and zinc; the
proportions of zinc and copper can be varied
to create a range of brasses with varying
properties.
 Copper-Tin Alloys
• Bronze, alloy traditionally composed of copper and tin. Bronze is
of exceptional historical interest and still finds wide applications.
• The proportions of copper and tin varied widely (from 67 to 95
percent copper in surviving artifacts), but, by the Middle Ages in
Europe, certain proportions were known to yield specific
properties.
• An alloy described in an 11th-century Greek manuscript in the
library of St. Mark’s, Venice, cites a proportion of one pound
copper to two ounces of tin (8 to 1), approximately that used for
bronze gunmetal in later times. Some modern bronzes contain
no tin at all, substituting other metals such as aluminum,
manganese, and even zinc.
• Bronze is harder than copper as a result of
alloying that metal with tin or other metals.
Bronze is also more fusible (i.e., more readily
melted) and is hence easier to cast. It is also
harder than pure iron and far more resistant to
corrosion. The substitution of iron for bronze in
tools and weapons from about 1000 BC was the
result of iron’s abundance compared to copper
and tin rather than any inherent advantages of
iron.
• Bell metal, characterized by its sonorous quality when
struck, is a bronze with a high tin content of 20–25
percent. Statuary bronze, with a tin content of less
than 10 percent and an admixture of zinc and lead, is
technically a brass. Bronze is improved in hardness and
strength by the addition of a small amount of
phosphorus; phosphor bronze may contain 1 or 2
percent phosphorus in the ingot and a mere trace after
casting, but its strength is nonetheless enhanced for
such applications as pump plungers, valves, and
bushings.
• Also useful in mechanical engineering
are manganese bronzes, in which there may be
little or no tin but considerable amounts of zinc
and up to 4.5 percent manganese. Aluminum
bronzes, containing up to 16 percent aluminum
and small amounts of other metals such as iron or
nickel, are especially strong and corrosion-
resistant; they are cast or wrought into pipe
fittings, pumps, gears, ship propellers, and turbine
blades.
• Besides its traditional use in weapons and
tools, bronze has also been widely used
in coinage; most “copper” coins are actually
bronze, typically with about 4 percent tin and
1 percent zinc.
 Copper-Nickel Alloys
• Cupronickel or copper-nickel is an alloy of copper that
contains nickel and strengthening elements, such
as iron and manganese. Cupronickel is highly resistant
to corrosion in seawater, because its electrode
potential is adjusted to be neutral with regard to
seawater. Because of this, it is used for piping, heat
exchangers and condensers in seawater systems, as
well as marine hardware, and sometimes for
the propellers, crankshafts and hulls of
premium tugboats, fishing boats and other
working boats.
• A more familiar common use is in silver-coloured
modern circulation coins. A typical mix is 75% copper,
25% nickel, and a trace amount of manganese. In the
past, true silver coins were debased with cupronickel.
Despite high copper content, cupronickel is silver in
colour.
• Thermocouples and resistors whose resistance is stable
across changes in temperature contain the 55% copper-
45% nickel alloy constantan.
• Monel metal is a nickel-copper alloy, containing a
minimum of 63% nickel.
 Copper-Silicon Alloys
• Silicon is soluble in copper up to 4 per cent at
room temperature
Copper-Silicon Alloys