ABSTRACT

The influences of alloy composition,

microstructure and heat treatment on
chemical and mechanical properties of
copper alloys will be discussed in relation
to its applications.

Submitted to
Prof.Dr.Abdelhamid Ahmed Hussein
Submitted by
Yousef Adel Hassanein

Copper and Copper

Alloys
24/3/2020
 Table of content

Introduction 2

Properties 4

Major Alloying Elements 6

Standard Designations for Wrought and Cast Copper and 9

Copper Alloys

Wrought Copper and Copper Alloys 11

Cast Copper and Copper Alloys 13

References 18

1
Introduction
COPPER was first used by man more than 10,000 years ago. Small, decorative
pendants and other items discovered in the Middle East have been dated about
8700 B.C. These objects were hammered to shape from nuggets of “native
copper,” pure copper found in conjunction with copper-bearing ores. The earliest
artifacts known to be made from smelted metal were also copper. These were
excavated in Anatolia (now Turkey) and have been dated as early as 7000 B.C.
The discovery of a copper-tin alloy and its uses led to the Bronze Age, which
began in the Middle East before 3000 B.C. More recent discoveries in Thailand,
however, indicate that bronze technology was known in the Far East as early as
4500 B.C. The Bronze Age endedabout 1200 B.C., after which iron technology
(the Iron Age) became common.

Today, copper and copper alloys remain one of the major groups of commercial
metals, ranking third behind only iron/steel and aluminum in production and
consumption. They are widely used because of their excellent electrical and
thermal conductivities, outstanding resistance to corrosion, ease of fabrication,
and good strength and fatigue resistance. They are generally nonmagnetic. They
can be readily soldered and brazed, and many coppers and copper alloys can be
welded by various gas, arc, and resistance methods. For decorative parts, standard
alloys having specific colors are readily available. Copper alloys can be polished
and buffed to almost any desired texture and luster. They can be plated, coated
with organic substances, or chemically colored to further extend the variety of
available finishes. Pure copper is used extensively for cables and wires, electrical
contacts, and a wide variety of other parts that are required to pass electrical
current.

Coppers and certain brasses, bronzes, and cupronickels are used extensively for
automobile radiators, heat exchangers, home heating systems, panels for

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absorbing solar energy, and various other applications requiring rapid conduction
of heat across or along a metal section. Because of their outstanding ability to
resist corrosion, coppers, brasses, some bronzes, and cupronickels are used for
pipes, valves, and fittings in systems carrying potable water, process water, or
other aqueous fluids. In all classes of copper alloys, certain alloy compositions
for wrought products have counterparts among the cast alloys; this enables the
designer to make an initial alloy selection before deciding on the manufacturing
process.

Most wrought alloys are available in various coldworked conditions, and the
room-temperature strengths and fatigue resistances of these alloys depend on the
amount of cold work as well as the alloy content. Typical applications of
coldworked wrought alloys (cold-worked tempers) include springs, fasteners,
hardware, small gears, cams, electrical contacts, and components.

Certain types of parts, most notably plumbing fittings and valves, are produced
by hot forging simply because no other fabrication process can produce the
required shapes and properties as economically. Copper alloys containing 1 to
6% Pb are free-machining grades. These alloys are widely used for machined
parts, especially those produced in screw machines

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Properties
Along with strength, fatigue resistance, and ability to take a good finish, the
primary selection criteria for copper and copper alloys are:

Electrical Conductivity

a little more than 60% of all copper and copper alloys consumed in the

United States are used because of electrical conductivity. The bulk of these
applications are wire and cable, for example, telecommunications wire and cable,
electronic wire and cable, building wire, magnet wire, power cable, and
automotive wire and cable.

The electrical conductivity scale established in 1913 was based on a copper

standard defined as 100%, and the electrical conductivity of any material is still
expressed as percent IACS (International Annealed Copper Standard).

Electrical Conductivity and its Effect on Grain Size and Cold Working.

The conductivity of copper is independent of its crystal orientation and does not
vary significantly with grain size. Cold working an annealed copper to about 90%
reduction can cause a drop of 2 to 3% IACS.

Thermal conductivity

Copper and its alloys are also good conductors of heat, making them ideal for
heat-transfer applications, for example, radiators and heat exchangers. Changes
in thermal conductivity generally follow those in electrical conductivity in
accordance with the Wiedemann-Franz relationship, which states that thermal
conductivity is proportional to the product of electrical conductivity and
temperature. Table 4 compares the thermal conductivities of various metals and
alloys

4
Corrosion Resistance

Copper is a noble metal, but unlike gold and other precious metals, it can be
attacked by common reagents and environments. Pure copper resists attack quite
well under most corrosive conditions. Some copper alloys, however, have limited
usefulness in certain environments because of hydrogen embrittlement or
stresscorrosion cracking (SCC).

Stress-corrosion cracking most commonly

occurs in brass that is exposed to ammonia or amines. Brasses containing more

than 15% Zn are the most susceptible. Copper and most copper alloys that either
do not contain zinc or are low in zinc content generally are not susceptible to
SCC. Because SCC requires both tensile stress and a specific chemical species to
be present at the same time, removal of either the stress or the chemical species
can prevent cracking

Colour

Copper and certain copper alloys are used fordecorative purposes alone, or when
a particular color and finish is combined with a desirable mechanical or physical
property of the alloy.

Fabrication Characteristics

As stated previously, ease of fabrication is one of the properties of importance for

copper and copper alloys. These materials are generally capable of being shaped
to the required form and dimensions by any of the common forming or forging
processes, and they are readily assembled by any of the various joining processes.
A brief review of the fabrication characteristics of copper and its alloys is given
subsequently.

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Major Alloying Elements
Aluminum

The copper-aluminum alloys may contain up to 15 percent aluminum as well as

additions of iron, nickel, tin, and manganese. The solubility of aluminium in
copper is 7.8 percent, although this is slightly increased with the usual addition
of iron. Alloys with less than 8 percent aluminum are single-phase, with or
without iron additions. When the aluminum is between 9 and 15 percent, the
system is two-phase and capable of either a martensitic or a eutectoid type of
transformation. Increasing amounts of aluminum increase tensile strength,
increase yield strength and hardness, and decrease elongation of the alloy.
Aluminum forms a refractory oxide that must be removed during welding,
brazing, or soldering.

Cadmium

The solubility of cadmium in copper is approximately 0.5 percent at room

temperature. The presence of cadmium in copper up to 1.25 percent causes no
serious difficulty in fusion welding because it evaporates from copper rather
easily at the welding temperature. A small amount of cadmium oxide may form
in the molten metal, but it can be fluxed without difficulty. Cadmium-copper rod
is Resistance Welding Manufacturers Association Class 1 alloy. The small
amount of cadmium strengthens pure copper while maintaining a very high
conductivity. This combination of properties makes this material ideal for
electrodes used for resistance welding high-conductivity alloys such as
aluminum. Cadmium-alloyed copper has been largely replaced by an averaged
chromium-copper because of federal restrictions regarding the use of heavy
metals in manufacturing.

Chromium

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The solubility of chromium in copper is approximately 0.55 percent at 1900 °F
(1038 °C) and less than 0.05 percent at room temperature. The phase that forms
during age hardening is almost pure chromium. Chromium coppers can develop
a combination of high strength and good conductivity.

Iron

The solubility of iron in copper is approximately 3 percent at 1900 °f (1038 °C)

and less than 0.1 percent at room temperature. Iron is added to aluminium bronze,
manganese bronze, and copper-nickel alloys to increase their strength by solid
solution and precipitation hardening. Iron increases the erosion and corrosion
resistance of copper-nickel alloys. Iron·must be kept in solid solution or in the
form of an intermetallic to obtain the desired corrosion resistance benefit,
particularly in copper-nickel alloys. Iron also acts as a grain refiner. Iron has little
effect on weldability when used within the alloy specification limits.

Lead

Lead is added to copper alloys to improve

machinability or bearing properties and
the pressure tightness of some cast copper
alloys. Lead does not form a solid
solution with copper and is almost
completely insoluble (0.06 percent) in
copper at room temperature. Lead is
present as pure, discrete particles and is
still liquid at 620 °F (327 °C). Leaded
copper alloys are hot-short and susceptible to cracking during fusion welding.
Lead is the most harmful element with respect to the weldability of copper alloys.

Manganese

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Manganese is highly soluble in copper. It is used in proportions of 0.05 to 3.0
percent in manganese bronze, deoxidized copper, and copper-silicon alloys.
Manganese additions are not detrimental to the weldability of copper alloys.
Manganese improves the hot working characteristics of multiphase copper alloys.

Nickel

Copper and nickel are completely solid soluble in all proportions. Although
copper-nickel alloys are readily welded, residual elements may lead to
embrittlement and hot cracking. There must be sufficient deoxidizer or
desulfurizer in the welding filler metal used for copper-nickel to provide a
residual amount in the solidified weld metal. Manganese is most often used for
this purpose.

Phosphorus

Phosphorus is used as a strengthener and deoxidizer in certain coppers and copper

alloys. Phosphorus is soluble in copper up to 1.7 percent at the eutectic
temperature of 1200 °F (649 °C), and approximately 0.4 percent at room
temperature. When added to copper-zinc alloys, phosphorus inhibits
dezincification.

Zinc

Zinc is the most important alloying element used commercially with copper. Zinc
is soluble in copper up to 32.5 percent at 1700 °F (927 °C} and 37 percent a room
temperature. A characteristic of all copper-zinc alloys is the relative ease that zinc
will volatilize from the molten metal with very slight superheat. Zinc is also a
residual element in aluminum bronze and copper-nickel and may cause porosity
or cracking, or both.

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Standard Designations for Wrought and
Cast Copper and Copper Alloys

Under the UNS system, coppers and copper alloys are designated by five-digit
numbers preceded by the letter “C.”

The five-digit codes are based on, and supersede, an older three-digit system
developed by the U.S. copper and brass industry. The older system was
administered by the Copper Development Association (CDA), and alloys are still
sometimes identified by their “CDA numbers.” The UNS designations are simply
two-digit extensions of the CDA numbers to accommodate new compositions.
For example, free cutting brass, once known as CDA Alloy No. 360, became UNS
C36000.

UNS designations have been incorporated in most relevant standards by ASTM,

American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), SAE, and similar
organizations. Longstanding familiar alloys continue to be identified by
descriptive names or trade names, but for the sake of clarity, UNS designations
are preferred throughout industry for engineering drawings and purchase
documents.

In the UNS system, numbers from C10000 through C79999 denote wrought
alloys, while cast alloy designations range from C80000 through C99999.

Copper alloys are also described by their tempers, which are terms that define
metallurgical condition, heat treatment, and/or casting method.

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Copper alloys are said to have a harder temper if they have been cold worked,
heat treated, or both, and a softer temper when they are in the as-hot-formed
condition or when the effects of cold work and/or heat treatment have been
removed by annealing. As usual, higher strength and hardness, that is, harder
tempers, are gained at the expense of reduced ductility. Temper, as applied to heat
treated copper alloys, carries exactly the opposite meaning than for heat treated
steels where tempering generally implies softening (e.g., quenched and tempered
steels).

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Wrought Copper and Copper Alloys
The most common way to catalog copper and copper alloys is to divide them into
six families: coppers, high-copper (or dilute) alloys, brasses, bronzes, copper-
nickels, and nickel silvers. The first family, the coppers, is essentially
commercially pure copper, which ordinarily is soft and ductile and contains less
than about 0.7% total impurities. The high-copper alloys contain small amounts
of various alloying elements, such as beryllium, cadmium, chromium, and iron,
each having less than 8 at.% solid solubility; these elements modify one or more
of the basic properties of copper. Each of the remaining families contains one of
five major alloying elements as

its primary alloying ingredient:

The purpose of adding alloying elements to copper is to optimize the strength,

ductility (formability), and thermal stability, without inducing unacceptable loss
in fabricability, electrical/thermal conductivity, or corrosion resistance. Copper
alloys show excellent hot and cold ductility, although usually not to the same
degree as the unalloyed parent metal. Even alloys with large amounts of solution-
hardening elements—zinc, aluminum, tin, and silicon that show rapid work
hardening are readily commercially processed beyond 50% cold work before a
softening anneal is required to permit additional processing. The amount of cold

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working and the annealing parameters must be balanced to control grain size and
crystallographic texturing. These two parameters are controlled to provide
annealed strip products at finish gage that have the formability needed in the
severe forming and deep drawing commonly done in commercial production of
copper, brass, and other copper alloy hardware and cylindrical tubular products.

Oxygen-free copper (electronic)

If high electrical conductivity and a low concentration of Cu2O are desired, it is

common to use oxygen-free electronic copper, previously referred to as oxygen-
free, high-conductivity copper. This copper is made by very carefully controlling
deoxidation during refining, so that both the residual oxygen content and the
deoxidizer content are low. This copper has an electrical resistivity about the
same as that of tough pitch copper, but a much lower oxygen (and hence Cu2O)
content. Thus, this copper can be used where extensive cold working is involved
and can be heat treated in reducing gases, whereas, as described previously, tough
pitch copper cannot. Oxygen-free coppers (C10100 to C10700) are generally
reserved for applications requiring the highest electrical conductivity. Their
conductivity is at least 100% IACS (Inter-national Annealed Copper Standard.

Oxygen-free and deoxidized coppers can be welded without danger of

embrittlement. Silver imparts modest annealing resistance to copper without
significantly affecting its electrical conductivity. This is why coppers containing
residual silver have been used for electrical products that must not soften as a
result of exposure to soldering temperatures.

Electrolytic tough pitch copper (ETP)

Electrolytic tough pitch copper

(C11000) is commonly used for electrical wire

and cable, as well as for roofing and architectural trim, while phosphorus-
deoxidized copper

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(C12200) is the standard material for household

water tube

Brasses

The common brasses (C21000 to C28000) are copper alloys in which zinc is the
principal alloying element. Low-zinc alloys, such as gilding (C21000), retain the
fcc a- structure, whilehigh-zinc brasses (39% Zn), such as Muntz metal (C28000),
contain mostly the hard bodycentered cubic phase. Brasses containing between
32 and 39% Zn may have a duplex alpha beta structure, which makes them easier
to hot work and machine. Increasing zinc content produces stronger and
“springier” alloys, at the expense of a moderate decrease in corrosion resistance.
Although produced in all product forms, brasses are primarily used as sheet, for
stampings (springs, and components of electrical switches and sockets, for
example); as tube, for lamp components, drain pipe, and plumbing goods; and as
rod, for cold-headed fasteners and forgings..

Cast Copper and Copper Alloys

Cast copper alloys are assigned UNS numbers from C80000 to C99999. The
metals are arranged in a series of eight families drawn from the 18
compositionally related classifications previously identified by the ASTM . These
families. some of which include subclassifications. include: Coppers (C80100-
C81200). Coppers are high-purity metals with a minimum designated copper
content of 99.3%. They are not intentionally alloyed but may contain traces of si
lver or deoxidizers. The phosphorus deoxidizer in, for example, CS I200 renders
this copper somewhat easier to weld byoxyacetylene techniques. The coppers are
soft and ductile and are used almost exclusively for

their unsurpassed electrical and thermal conductivities in products such as

terminals, connectors and (water-cooled) hot metal handling equipment.

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High Copper Alloys (C81400-C82800).

Next in order of decreasing copper

content are alloys with a minimum
designated purity of 94% Cu. The
high copper alloys are used
primarily for their unique
combination of high strength and
good conductivity

Brasses (C83300-C87900).

Brasses are copper alloys in which zinc is the principal alloying addition.

Brasses may also contain specified quantities of lead, tin, manganese and silicon.
There are five subcategories of cast brasses, including two groups of

copper·tin-(lead)-zinc alloys the red and leaded red brasses and semired and
leaded semi-red brasses, respectively.

copper·zinc-(lead) alloys, yellow brasses and leaded yellow brasses.

manganese bronzes and leaded manganese bronzes also known as high strength
and leaded high strength yellow brasses; and,

copper-silicon alloys, which are called silicon brasses or, if they contain more
silicon than zinc, silicon bronzes. The lower the zinc content in the copper-tin-
(lead)-zinc alloys. the more copper-like, or "red" they appear. With a few
exceptions, red and leaded red brasses contain less than about 8% zinc; semi-red
brasses, including the leaded versions, contain between 7% and 17% zinc, while
yellow brasses and their leaded counterparts contain as much as 4 1% zinc.
Brasses containing up to 32.5% zinc are also sometimes called "alpha" brasses
after the common designation for their single-phase, facecentered cubic crystal
structure

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Red and Semi-Red Brasses, Unleaded and Leaded (C83300-C84800)

The most important brasses in

tenns of tonnage poured are the
leaded red brass, C83600 (85-5-
5-5), and the leaded semi-red
brasses, C84400,

C84500 and C84800 (8 1-3-7-9,

78-3-7- 12 and 76-3-6- 15, respectively). All of these alloys are widely used in
water valves, pumps, pipe fittings and plumbing hardware. A typical downstream
water meter

Yellow Brasses (C85200-C85800).

Leaded yellow brasses such as

C85400 (67-1-3-29), C85700 (63-
1- 1-35) and C85800 are relatively
low in cost and have excellent
castability, high machinabi lity and favourable finishing characteristics. Their
corrosion

resistance, while reasonably good, is lower than that of the red and semi-red
brasses. Typical tensile strengths range from 34 to 55 ksi (234 to 379 MPa).
Leaded yellow brasses are commonly used for mechanical products such as gears
and machine components, in which relatively high strength and moderate
con'osion resistance must be combined with superior machinability, The yellow
brasses are often used for architectural trim and decorative hardware, The
relatively narrow solidification range and good high-temperature ductility of the
yellow brasses permit some of these alloys to be die cast. The yellow brass door
bolt.

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High Strength and Leaded High Strength Yellow Brasses (C86100-C86800)
Or manganese bronzes, are the
strongest, as cast, of all the copper
alloys. The "all beta" alloys C86200 and
C86300 (the alloys' structure is
described below) develop typical tensile
strengths of95 and 11 5 ksi (655 and 793
MPa), respectively, without heat treatment. These alloys are weldable, but should
be given a post-weld stress relief. The high strength brasses areused principally
for heavy duty mechanical products requiring moderately good corrosion
resistance at a reasonable cost. The rolling mill adjusting nut

Silicon BronzeslBrasses (C87300-C87900)

Are moderate strength alloys with good corrosion resistance and useful casting
characteristics. Their solidification behaviour makes alloys in this group
amenable to die, pennanent mold and investment casting methods. Applications
range from bearings and gears to plumbing goods and intricately shaped pump
and valve components. Bronzes. The term "bronze" originally referred to alloys
in which tin was the major alloying element. Under the UNS system, the teml
now applies to a broader class of alloys in which the principal alloying element
isneither zinc (which would form brasses) nor nickel (which forms copper-
nickels).

Nickel Silvers (C97300-C97800).

These copper-nickel-tin-Ieadzinc alloys offer excellent corrosion resistance,

high castability and very good machinability. They have moderate strength.
Among their useful attributes is their pleasing silvery luster. Valves, fittings and
hardware cast in nkkel silvers are used in food and beverage handling
equipment and as seals and labyrinthrings in steam turbines.

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Aluminum Bronzes (C9S200-C95800).

These alloys contain between 3% and 12% aluminum. Aluminum strengthens

copper and imparts oxidation resistance by forming a tenacious alumina-rich
surface film. Iron, silicon, nickel and manganese are added to aluminium
bronzes singly or in combination for higherstrength andlor corrosion resistance
in specific media. Aluminum bronzes are best known for their high corrosion
and oxidation resistance combined with exceptionally good mechanical
properties. The alloys are readily fabricated and welded and have been used to
produce some of the largest nonferrous cast structures in existence.

Aluminum bronze bearings are used in heavily loaded applications. Alloy

C95200, with about 9.5% aluminum, develops a tensile strength of 80 ksi (550
MPa) as cast. Alloys C95400 and C95500, which contain at least 10%
aluminum, can be quenched and tempered much like steels to reach tensile
strengths of 105 ksi (724 MPa) and 120 ksi (827 MPa), respectively. Resistance
to seawater corrosion is exceptionally high in nickel-aluminum bronzes.
Because of its superior resistance to erosion-corrosion and cavitation, nickel-
aluminum bronze C95500 is now widely used for propellers and other marine
hardware,

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References
 ASM Specialty Handbook Copper and Copper Alloys
 The Corrosion of Copper and I t s Alloys A Practical Guide for
Engineers, Roger Francis
 CDA Handbook
 Suranaree University of Technology
 H.S. Campbell, BNF Metals Technology Centre, Miscellaneous
Publication
 Structure Structure and properties of engineeringalloys, second

edition,and properties of engineering

alloys, second edition,

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