Group 3

Non-Ferrous Metals
Commonly used:

Aluminium- light in weight and colour

Copper- good conductor of heat and electricity
Zinc- weak metal
Lead- soft metal but one of the heavy metals
Tin- silver in colour
Nickel

ALUMINIUM

From Latin word alum means alumen

The name was given by Humphry Davy who discovered aluminium can
be produced by electrolytic reduction from alumina( Aluminium oxide)
Hall Hroults process- Charles Hall( American) and Paul
Hroult( French)
Bayers process- Karl Joseph Bayer
Third most recycled material in the world
Malleable, less ductile than but excels zinc, tin, and lead
Harder than tin
Low thermal conductivity but good conductor of electricity
Very light, soft and durable
Melting point- 657 C
Tensile strength- Casting- 117.2 MPa

Uses

For door and window frames

Aluminium sheets
Aluminium powder

Alloys

Cast Alloys- shaped by casting; containing copper, silicon, and

magnesium
Wrought Alloys- contain copper, magnesium, silicon, and manganese
Duralumin- first widely used deformable aluminium alloys
- 3-5% copper, 0.51%-1% magnesium, 0-0.07% manganese,
0.3%-0.6% iron, 0.3%-0.6% silica
 - Relative density is 2.8
- Yield point- 206.85 MPa
- Highly resistant to corrosion
- For aircraft construction
Magnalium- more expensive than aluminium
- Aluminium and magnesium (6%)
- Very good mechanical properties
- Strong and ductile
- Deoxidizers in copper smelting operations
Aldural- an aluminium-alloy coated with another aluminium alloy
containing magnesium and silicon on both sides which resist corrosion
Y-alloy- relative density is 2.8
- 4% copper, 20% nickel, and 1.5% magnesium
- Resist corrosion
- Good thermal conductivity and can sustain high temperature
- Used for making cylinder head, connecting rod, and propeller
blades
Aluminium Bronze- very strong and elastic
- 11% aluminium
- Highly resistant to torsional stress
- Resistance to alternate bending stress
- E= 1.03425 x 105 MPa
- Used for pump lines, screws, rivets, musical instruments
Light Alloy- 3% copper and 12% zinc
Aluminium-Copper Alloy- 4% copper
- For casting
Aluminium-Zinc Alloy- 15% zinc
- Very sensitive to high temperature for melting
- Solid- low strength and brittleness when heated 50 C
- Harder and stronger
- Less ductile and more difficult to roll
- Have well defined yield points
Aluminium-Silicon Alloy- 5%-15% silicon
- Have excellent casting qualities and fluidity
- High resistance to corrosion
- Good conductors of heat
- Low thermal expansion

Copper

Its color is reddish, and turns greenish when it is exposed to weather.

It is malleable and ductile.
Tensile strength is high.
Good conductors of heat and electricity.
 Cannot be welded.
Commonly used for electrical purposes or for conduction purposes.
Also used for roofing, sheeting and damp proofing.

How Copper is made?

Copper comes from ores and extracted through smelting.

After calcining it is mixed with silica and coke.
In Bessemer converter it is oxidized and many parts of sulphur and iron
are removed.
The copper that is extracted at this point is called blister copper.
Blister copper contains many impurities and it is refined in the
reverberatory furnace or by electrolysis.
The blister copper is refined through electrolysis or in reverberatory
furnace.
Fire refining imparts malleability, toughness and ductility.
Any excess or deficiency of cuprous oxide will make the copper weak
and brittle.
Charcoal and Green wood are added to the fuel to make sure that the
cuprous oxide is sufficient.

Electrolytic Refining

Used when there is a considerable quantity of silver or gold in the

blister copper.
Also used when pure grade copper is required for electrical purposes.
Alloys

Brass
- Alloy that uses 60-90% copper and 10-40% zinc.
- If 2-3% of tin is added, the hardness increases and ductility
decreases.
- If 2% of lead is added, the ductility and strength is reduced but the
brass becomes easy to polish.
- If 1-6% of aluminum is added, the strength increases and ductility
decreases
- The 1:1 ratio of copper to zinc are used for brazing brass goods. It
has very high crushing strength but too brittle for mechanical use.
- Alloys that has 57-63% copper are called Muntz metals. It is used
for making bolts, rods, tubes.
- Alloys that has 70-75% copper are used for making cartridge cases,
condensing, tubes and spinning operations.
- Alloys thath has 80-85% copper are used for making medals and
artificial jewelry.
Manganese Bronze
- Made up of 0.5-1.5% tin, 0.5% iron, less than 0.5% manganese and
less than 0.2% lead.

- Used in marine engines, propeller blade and condenser tubes due to

its high strength and resistance to saltwater.

Naval Brass
- Same composition of manganese bronze except it doesnt have
manganese and iron. It is more ductile and weaker than manganese
bronze.

Sterro Metal
- Made up of 1.5-2% iron, 38% zinc and copper. It is used for working
under heavy pressure like hydraulic cylinders.

Delta Metal
- Made up of 50-65% copper, 0-50% zinc, 0.1-0.5% iron and 0.1-1% tin.
It is strong as mild steel

Bronze
- Usually made of copper and tin and one or more metal
- If 95% of copper and 5% of tin is alloyed, it is called coinage
bronze, use for making coins.
 - If 88% of copper, 10% of tin, and 2% zinc is alloyed, it is called
gun metals, use for making valves and bearings.
- If 45-65% of copper, 20-35% of zinc and 5-35% nickel is alloyed, it
is called bell metal, use for making utensils, fittings and electric
goods.

Zinc Bronze
- Made up of 59% of copper, 39% of zinc and 2% of tin. This alloy
is too brittle.

Phospor Bronze
- It uses phosphorus as deoxidizer. To make a malleable alloy, it
should not exceed 4% tin and 0.1% phosphorus. Up to 4% of
copper is all it takes to increase hardness and brittleness. Any
excess will result in alloy becoming useless

Lead Bronze
- Made up of copper, tin, less than 1% of phosphorus, and less
than 3% of lead. Used for making bearings.

Copper-Beryllium Alloys
- Made up of 2% beryllium, 0.35% of nickel or cobalt, and copper.
It has exceptional strength, good resistance to corrosion, fair
electrical activity and high wear resistance. It is used for springs,
gears, electric contacts, bearings, chisel and wrenches.

Zinc

Source:

Sulphide ore zinc blende or Jet Black

Zinc Carbonate
Calamine (ZnCO3 52% Zinc)
Zinc silicates- hemimorphite
Willemite

Process

Sulfide Ore

Finely ground and calcined [to heat (as inorganic materials) to a high
temperature.
In reverberatory furnace until nearly all sulphur is expelled.
Carbonate and Silicate Ores

Often calcined in shaft furnace before being distilled.

Ore containing impurities of iron

Broken to small pieces and calcined to powder and iron is removed by

electromagnet.

Extraction of Zinc:

Electrolysis
Distillation
- By carefully controlling the temperature of the retort to white
heat, carbon monoxide is produced and the zinc is relieved of its
oxygen.

Properties of Zinc

Resistance to atmospheric corrosion.

Ductile and can be reformed to desired shape.

Lead

Is the densest, softest, and weakest metal

Lead Sulfide, PbS, 86% lead

Process

Lead is extracted by reducing sulphur content by roasting the ore in

pots or sintering it in shallow pallets along with flux and coke.
Fine ore must be agglomerated before charged in a blast furnace.
Other metals such as zinc, copper, and arsenic are taken out from blast
furnace and separated by the basis of their melting points.

Properties

Highly malleable and can be rolled in to thin foils

It is very soft, highly malleable, ductile, and a relatively poor conductor
of electricity.
It is very resistant to corrosion but tarnishes upon exposure to air.
Melting temperature of 327C and relative density of 11.34.
Alloys

Lead-Antimony Alloy
- High lead alloy made of 15-20% antimony with lead.
- Antimony acts as hardener, then used for making bearings.
Lead-Tin Alloy
- Used for making toys and solder.
- By adding tin, hardness of lead is increased.
- More tin makes the alloy harder and stronger.
Fusible Alloy
- Low melting point alloys
- Use of these alloy is made in automatic sprinkler systems, fire
alarms and safety devices used to prevent overheating.

Tin

It is extracted from black oxide of tin, casseterite ( Sn O2 , 78.6% tin).

Tin is extracted from the ore by crushing, roasting and melting to a
temperature of about 1000 in a way similar to that of coppers.

Properties of Tin

Tin is a silvery-white, lustrous, and extremely malleable metal. It is so

soft that it can be cut by a knife. Its specific gravity is 7.3 and it melts
at 232 . I t is harder, more ductile and stronger than lead. Tin is as
ductile as soft steel. It is highly resistant to corrosion and has low
tensile strength.

Uses of Tin

Sheets coated with tin are used to make cans, utensils and furnace
pipes. Sheets coated with lead-tin alloy are used for roofing. Tin is also
used for making bronze and other alloys.

Alloys

The important tin alloys are solder, babbitt metal, white metal, and pewter.

Solder
- It is obtained by allowing tin with antimony (0.5-3%), lead (5-
40%) and tin (40-95%). These have low melting points. Solder is
also used for joining copper, lead, tin, iron, zinc, etc.
 Babbitt Metals
- These are alloys with tin based containing small proportions of
copper and antimony. These are used for making bearings.
White Metal
- It is an alloy of tin, lead and antimony with copper in varying
proportions. It is used for making bearings. This bearing metal
accommodates itself for any defect in the alignment of bearings.
Pewter
- It is an alloy of tin 75% content and lead 20-25%. It has high
corrosion resistance.

Nickel

It is generally extracted from pyrite or silicate ores.

Properties of Nickel

A brittle metal approaching silver in colour nickel takes good polish and
at ordinary temperatures does not tarnish or corrode in dry air. It has a
specific gravity 8.30, when cast and 8.70, when rolled. Its melting point
is 1500 . It is almost as hard as soft steel far more malleable and
when rolled and annealed, is somewhat stronger and almost as ductile.
Nickel resist alkaline corrosion, but gets readily dissolved in nitric acid
and aquaregia. The presence of carbon, arsenic, sulphur leads to
brittleness. Small amounts of magnesium render it more ductile
whereas iron makes it hard.

Uses of Nickel

Nickel is used in making nickel steels, coin, and German silver, wires,
as catalyst and for moisture-proof packings. Nickel is widely used as an
alloying element in steel and cast iron and as an electro-deposited
coating over steel to give corrosion protection. Nickel is also used to
form alloys with such elements as copper, chromium and iron.

Alloys

The various alloys of nickel are designed to have certain characteristics

such as a high degree of toughness, corrosion resistance, oxidation
resistance, low creep rate at high temperatures, and good properties at
 very low temperatures. Some of the important nickel alloys are as
follows: Monel Metal, Hoste Alloys, and Inconel.

Monel Metal

- Is made by allowing copper with nickel. These are used where

high strength, pressure tightness, high resistance to corrosion
and wear is required. They are widely used in marine, chemical,
power, electrical, and oil-refinery equipment.

Hoste Alloys
- Are alloys consisting principally of nickel, molybdenum, and iron.
These are resistant to a wide variety of non-oxidizing acids and
salts.

Inconel
- Consists principally of nickel, chromium, and iron. These have
high resistance to corrosion and to oxidation at high
temperatures.