A Newsletter from : INDIAN COPPER DEVELOPMENT CENTRE

www.indiancopper.org
No. 84
April,
2016

ICDC Organised a Seminar on Testing Equipments

End users of copper and copper alloys have become more demanding as regards the
properties of the metal they use and these properties are now specified with much
closer tolerances. The manufacturers thus need to control more carefully not only the
processing parameters but have
suitable testing facilities
too,
said Dr. D. De Sarkar, CEO, Indian
Copper
Development
Centre
(ICDC) in his opening address of
the seminar Testing Equipments
for Copper & Copper Alloy
Products, organized by ICDC in
Mumbai on 16th March, 2016. He
also mentioned that present day
concept
of
Testing
has
expanded to total quality control
which involves not only testing of
the finished products but also inprocess testing.

During the above seminar eight

papers were presented by
different
testing equipment
manufacturers
and
each
technical session concluded
with
extremely
interesting
interactive sessions between the
audience and the authors of the
papers.
The proceedings of the above
seminar containing all the
papers presented, is available in
bound volume with ICDC.

For more information, you may please contact :

Dr. D. De Sarkar, CEO, ICDC
E-mail : indcop@vsnl.com, icdckolkata@gmail.com

ICSG Data
The International Copper Study Group (ICSG) released preliminary data for December
2015 world copper supply and demand in its March 2016 Copper Bulletin.

World refined copper production in 2015 is estimated to have increased by about 1.6%
(350,000 t) compared with refined copper production in 2014: primary production was
up by 2% and secondary production (from scrap) remained essentially unchanged as
output was constrained by tight supply of scrap. The main contributor to growth in
world refined production was China (up by 4%). Output in Chile and Japan (the second
and third leading refined copper producers) declined by 1.5% and 4.5%,
respectively, due to smelters maintenance shutdowns and operational failures.
Production increased by 4% in the United States, the fourth largest refined copper
producer. On a regional basis, refined output is estimated to have increased in Africa
(1%), Asia (3%) and North America (4%) while declining in South America (-1%), Europe
(-1%) and Oceania (-4%). The average world refinery capacity utilization rate for
2015 remained practically unchanged at around 83.5% as compared to 2014.
In 2015, world apparent usage is estimated to have remained essentially unchanged
compared to that in 2014. Excluding China, world usage declined by around 3%.
Although Chinese apparent demand increased by around 3%, usage declined by about
2% and 7% in the EU and Japan, respectively, and by 47% in Russia (following the
withdrawal of Russias cathode export tax in September 2014). On a regional basis,
usage is estimated to have increased by around 2% and 4% in Asia and Africa,
respectively while declining by around 1.5% in the Americas, 8% in Europe and 55% in
Oceania.

TRUMPF Develops Pulsed, Green Laser for Welding

Copper

Copper is an excellent conductor of both heat and current, making it a metal for many
applications and it is indispensable to electronics and electrical technology. That is
because copper is deemed to be the most important material for conducting current.
Due to ever more compact housings and the higher performance capacities of electronic
components, demands on the production and joining technologies for copper
components are also rising.
When using the laser to weld copper, beam sources with an infrared wavelength are
normally used today. The two greatest challenges here are good reproducibility and low
spattering. At a wavelength of 1,000 nanometers (IR), copper is highly reflective. Uniform
welding seams which will depend on the surface properties can be guaranteed only
to a certain degree, a degree that is often not sufficient for industry. Spattering is a
problem during deep welding. These spatters can damage the component and, in the
worst case, can cause short circuits on the board. How can these two problems be
solved? They can be countered by properly matching the laser parameters such as
distribution of power density, the pulse width, and the shape of the vapor channel but
in spite of this, the results are often still less than ideal. What cannot be influenced are
the surface tension and the viscosity of copper. Both properties are lower, when
compared with steel, and they lead to a less stable weld pool. This is aggravated by
increased energy loss due to the high thermal conductivity of copper. TRUMPF which is
a leading global high technology and produces machine tools, lasers and electronics for
industrial applications brings about a considerable improvement in the process.
To generate the green wavelength in the TruDisk 421 pulse, the frequency of the laser
beam is doubled inside the laser resonator. The advantages of this green laser are many
and varied. Copper absorbs the green light far better than the infrared. This means that
the material reaches its melting temperature faster, the welding process starts quicker,
and less laser power is required. While the infrared laser works with 2.6 kilowatts of
peak pulse power, the green laser requires only 1.4 kilowatts for the same welded seam.
The process is more energy-efficient and far fewer spatters are formed. The green laser
also improves the reproducibility of the results.

 New Director (Operations) in Hindustan Copper

Mr. Santosh Sharma has taken over as Director (Operations) in
Hindustan Copper Ltd. from 1st March 2016.
Mr. Sharma joined Hindustan Copper Limited, Corporate Office, as the
General Manager (Operations) on 26th April, 2013. Thereafter, he
became the Executive Director (Operations) and also assumed charge
as the Unit Head of the recently acquired Gujarat Copper Project in
June, 2015.
He has richly contributed to the company through his pioneering
efforts in the areas of energy conservation, cost control, ISO implementation, increasing
by-product credit, systematization of Preventive / Predictive maintenance in mines and
plants and benchmarking and specific consumption of energy.
Prior to joining HCL, he had worked with Bhilai Steel Plant (SAIL) in various capacities.

Forthcoming Event
Wire & Cable Guangzhou
International Wire, Cable and Accessories Fair 2016
on 06-08 June 2016 at China Import and Export Fair Pazhou Complex, Guangzhou
Organised by Guangzhou Guangya Messe Frankfurt Co. Ltd.
Wire and Cable taking place in Guangzhou is the largest technical fair dealing with
wiring and cabling in South China and the second largest industry exhibition in the
country at the same time. Numerous exhibitors show a wide range of products reaching
from high, low and medium voltage cables up to optical fibre cables and the
corresponding equipment and materials. As China is a leading market for wiring and
cabling, the exhibition is aimed at attracting mainly customers and business partners
from overseas.
For more details please log on to : www.wire-cable-china.com

New Directory from ICDC

ICDC has published

DIRECTORY OF INDIAN SUPPLIERS OF EQUIPMENTS AND CONSUMABLES

FOR COPPER & COPPER ALLOY INDUSTRY
Second Edition - 2016
The Directory lists names of Indian companies with their PRODUCTS and CONTACT
DETAILS, who are supplying equipments and consumables required to manufacture
various types of copper and copper alloy products.
This comprehensive guide is very useful to the copper based industry in sourcing
equipments and consumables for their use.

For more information, please contact :

Dr. D. De Sarkar, CEO,
INDIAN COPPER DEVELOPMENT CENTRE
Phone : 91-33-22875724/25
E-mail : indcop@vsnl.com