Copper alloy is an alloy composed of pure copper as the matrix and one or several other elements added. According to the material formation method, it can be divided into cast copper alloy and deformed copper alloy.
Most cast copper alloys cannot be press worked, such as cast beryllium bronze and cast tin bronze, these alloys have extremely poor plasticity and cannot be press worked. Pure copper is commonly known as red copper. Its electrical conductivity, thermal conductivity, corrosion resistance and plasticity are excellent, but its strength and hardness are low, and it is expensive. Therefore, it is rarely used to make parts. Copper alloys are widely used in machinery. Brass is a copper alloy with zinc as the main element.
With the increase of zinc content, the strength and plasticity of the alloy increase significantly, but its mechanical properties will decrease significantly when it exceeds 47%, so the zinc content of brass is less than 47%. In addition to zinc, cast brass often contains alloying elements such as silicon, manganese, aluminum, and lead. The mechanical properties of cast brass are higher than those of bronze, but the price is lower than that of bronze. Cast brass is often used in general-purpose bearing bushes, bushings, gears and other wear parts and valves and other corrosion-resistant parts.
Alloys composed of elements other than copper and zinc are collectively referred to as bronze. Among them, the alloy of copper and tin is the most common bronze, called tin bronze. Tin bronze has low linear shrinkage and is not easy to produce shrinkage cavities, but it is easy to produce microscopic shrinkage. The addition of zinc, lead and other elements to the tin bronze can improve the compactness and wear resistance of the casting, save the amount of tin, and add phosphorus for deoxidation. However, it is easy to produce micro-shrinkage, so it is suitable for wear-resistant and corrosion-resistant parts that do not require high compactness.
In addition to tin bronze, aluminum bronze has excellent mechanical properties and wear resistance and corrosion resistance, but its castability is poor, so it is only used for important wear and corrosion resistance parts. Many copper alloys can be used for both casting and deforming. Usually wrought copper alloys can be used for casting, while many cast copper alloys cannot be deformed such as forging, extrusion, deep drawing and drawing.
Post time: Jun-07-2022