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Cupronickel
Cupronickel (also known as copper-nickel) is an alloy of copper that contains nickel and strengthening elements, such
as iron and manganese. Despite its high copper content, cupronickel is silver in colour.

Due to the specific properties of nickel and copper alloys, they are applied in various domains of industry e.g. coin and
medal minting, armaments manufacture, desalination materials, marine engineering, and extensively used in the
chemical, petrochemical and electrical industries.[1]

Cupronickel is highly resistant to corrosion in seawater. For this reason, it is used for piping, heat exchangers and
condensers in seawater systems, marine hardware, and sometimes for the propellers, crankshafts and hulls of premium
tugboats, fishing boats and other working boats.

Another common use of cupronickel is in silver-coloured modern-circulated coins. A typical mix is 75% copper, 25% nickel
(a proportion of 3:1), and a trace amount of manganese. In the past, true silver coins were debased with cupronickel.

Contents
Name
Applications
Marine engineering
Coinage
Other usage
Properties
Fabrication
Standards
History
Chinese history
Greco-Bactrian coinage
European history
See also
References
External links

Name
Aside from the terms cupronickel and copper-nickel, several other terms have been used to describe the material: the
tradenames Alpaka or Alpacca, Argentan Minargent, and the French term cuivre blanc ("white copper") are still
registered; cupronickel is also occasionally referred to as hotel silver, plata alemana (Spanish for "German silver"),
German silver, and Chinese silver.[2]

Applications
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Marine engineering
Cupronickel alloys are used for marine applications[3] due to their resistance to seawater corrosion, good fabricability, and
their effectiveness in lowering macrofouling levels. Alloys ranging in composition from 90% Cu–10% Ni to 70% Cu–30%
Ni are commonly specified in heat exchanger or condenser tubes in a wide variety of marine applications.[4]

Important marine applications for cupronickel include:

Shipbuilding and repair: Cupronickel alloys are used in seawater cooling, bilge and ballast, sanitary, fire fighting, inert
gas, hydraulic and pneumatic chiller systems.[5]
Desalination plants: Cupronickel alloys are used in brine heaters, heat rejection and recovery, and in evaporator
tubing.[6]
Offshore oil and gas platforms and processing and FPSO vessels: Cupronickel alloys are used in systems and splash
zone sheathings.[7]
Power generation: Cupronickel alloys are used in steam turbine condensers, oil coolers, auxiliary cooling systems
and high pressure pre-heaters at nuclear and fossil fuel power plants.[8]
Seawater system design: Cupronickel alloys are used in tubular heat exchangers and condensers, piping and high
pressure systems.[9]
Seawater system components: Cupronickel alloys are used in condenser and heat exchanger tubes, tubesheets,
piping, fittings, pumps, and water boxes.[10]
Hulls of boats and ships[11]

Coinage
The successful use of cupronickel in coinage is due to its corrosion resistance, electrical
conductivity, durability, malleability, low allergy risk, ease of stamping, antimicrobial
properties and recyclability.[12]

In Europe, Switzerland pioneered the nickel billon coinage in 1850, with the addition of
silver. In 1968, Switzerland adopted the far cheaper 75:25 copper to nickel ratio then being
used by the Belgians, the United States, and Germany. From 1947 to 2012, all "silver"
coinage in the UK was made from cupronickel, but from 2012 onwards the two smallest
cupronickel denominations were replaced with lower-cost nickel-plated steel coins. Five Swiss francs

In part due to silver hoarding in the Civil War, the United States Mint first used
cupronickel for circulating coinage in three-cent pieces starting in 1865, and then for five-cent pieces starting in 1866.
Prior to these dates, both denominations had been made only in silver in the United States. Cupronickel is the cladding on
either side of United States half-dollars (50¢) since 1971, and all quarters (25¢) and dimes (10¢) made after 1964.
Currently, some circulating coins, such as the United States Jefferson nickel (5¢),[13] the Swiss franc, and the South
Korean 500 and 100 won are made of solid cupronickel (75/25 ratio).[14]

Other usage
Single-core thermocouple cables use a single conductor pair of thermocouple conductors such as iron-constantan, copper
constantan or nickel-chromium/nickel-aluminium. These have the heating element of constantan or nickel-chromium
alloy within a sheath of copper, cupronickel or stainless steel.[15]

Cupronickel is used in cryogenic applications. Its combination of good ductility retention and thermal conductivity at very
low temperatures is advantageous for low-temperature processing and storage equipment as well as for heat exchangers at
cryogenic plants.[16][17][18]

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Beginning around the turn of the 20th century, bullet jackets were commonly made from this material. It was soon
replaced with gilding metal to reduce metal fouling in the bore.

Currently, cupronickel and nickel silver remain the basic material for silver-plated cutlery. It is commonly used for
mechanical and electrical equipment, medical equipment, zippers, jewelry items, and as material for strings for string
instruments. Fender Musical Instruments used "CuNiFe" magnets in their "Wide Range Humbucker" pickup for various
Telecaster and Starcaster guitars during the 1970s.

For high-quality cylinder locks and locking systems, cylinder cores are made from wear-resistant cupronickel.

Cupronickel has been used as an alternative to traditional steel brake lines, as it does not rust. Since cupronickel is much
softer than steel, it bends and flares easier, as well as steals against hydraulic components easier.

Properties
Important properties of cupronickel alloys include corrosion resistance, inherent resistance to macrofouling, good tensile
strength, excellent ductility when annealed, thermal conductivity and expansion characteristics amenable for heat
exchangers and condensers, good thermal conductivity and ductility at cryogenic temperatures and beneficial
antimicrobial touch surface properties.[19]

Properties of some Cu–Ni alloys[20]

Density Thermal Electrical Elastic Yield Tensile

TEC
Alloy conductivity resistivity modulus strength strength
g/cm3 µm/(m·K)
W/(m·K) µOhm·mm GPa MPa MPa
90–10 8.9 40 17 19 135 105 275
70–30 8.95 29 16 34 152 125 360
66–30–
8.86 25 15.5 50 156 170 435
2–2

The alloys are:

UNS standard compositions* of wrought alloys (in at%). Maximum or range.

Alloy UNS No. Common name European spec Ni Fe Mn Cu
C70600 90–10 CuNi10Fe 9–11 1–1.8 1 Remainder

C71500 70–30 CuNi30Fe 29–33 0.4–1.0 1 Remainder

C71640 66–30–2–2 29–32 1.7–2.3 1.5–2.5 Remainder

These values may vary in other standards

Subtle differences in corrosion resistance and strength determine which alloy is selected. Descending the table, the
maximum allowable flow rate in piping increases, as does the tensile strength.

In seawater, the alloys have excellent corrosion rates which remain low as long as the maximum design flow velocity is not
exceeded. This velocity depends on geometry and pipe diameter. They have high resistance to crevice corrosion, stress
corrosion cracking and hydrogen embrittlement that can be troublesome to other alloy systems. Copper-nickels naturally
form a thin protective surface layer over the first several weeks of exposure to seawater and this provides its ongoing

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resistance. Additionally, they have a high inherent biofouling resistance to attachment by macrofoulers (e.g. seagrasses
and molluscs) living in the seawater. To use this property to its full potential, the alloy needs to be free of the effects of, or
insulated from, any form of cathodic protection.

However, Cu–Ni alloys can show high corrosion rates in polluted or stagnant seawater when sulfides or ammonia are
present. It is important, therefore, to avoid exposure to such conditions, particularly during commissioning and refit while
the surface films are maturing. Ferrous sulfate dosing to sea water systems can provide improved resistance.

As copper and nickel alloy with each other easily and have simple structures,
the alloys are ductile and readily fabricated. Strength and hardness for each
individual alloy is increased by cold working; they are not hardened by heat
treatment. Joining of 90–10 (C70600) and 70–30 (C71500) is possible by both
welding or brazing. They are both weldable by the majority of techniques,
although autogenous (welding without weld consumables) or oxyacetylene
methods are not recommended. The 70–30 rather than 90–10 weld
consumables are normally preferred for both alloys and no after-welding heat Crack in 90–10 Cu–Ni metal plate
due to stresses during silver brazing
treatment is required. They can also be welded directly to steel, providing a
65% nickel-copper weld consumable is used to avoid iron dilution effects. The
C71640 alloy tends to be used as seamless tubing and expanded rather than welded into the tube plate. Brazing requires
appropriate silver-base brazing alloys. However, great care must be taken to ensure that there are no stresses in the Cu–Ni
being silver brazed, since any stress can cause intergranulary penetration of the brazing material, and severe stress
cracking (see image). Thus, full annealing of any potential mechanical stress is necessary.

Applications for Cu–Ni alloys have withstood the test of time, as they are still widely used and range from seawater system
piping, condensers and heat exchangers in naval vessels, commercial shipping, multiple-stage flash desalination and
power stations. They have also been used as splash zone cladding on offshore structures and protective cladding on boat
hulls, as well as for solid hulls themselves.

Fabrication
Due to its ductility, cupronickel alloys can be readily fabricated in a wide variety of product forms[21] and fittings.
Cupronickel tubing can be readily expanded into tube sheets for the manufacturing of shell and tube heat exchangers.

Details of fabrication procedures, including general handling, cutting and machining, forming, heat treatment, preparing
for welding, weld preparations, tack welding, welding consumables, welding processes, paintina, mechanical properties of
welds, and tube and pipe bending are available.[22]

Standards
ASTM, EN, and ISO standards exist for ordering wrought and cast forms of cupronickel.[23]

Thermocouples and resistors whose resistance is stable across changes in temperature contain alloy constantan, which
consists of 55% copper and 45% nickel.

Monel metal is a nickel–copper alloy, containing a minimum of 63% nickel.

History

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Chinese history
Cupronickel alloys were known as "white copper" to the Chinese since about the third century BCE. Some weapons made
during the Warring States period were made with Cu-Ni alloys.[24] The theory of Chinese origins of Bactrian cupronickel
was suggested in 1868 by Flight, who found that the coins considered the oldest cupronickel coins yet discovered were of a
very similar alloy to Chinese paktong.[25]

The author-scholar, Ho Wei, precisely described the process of making cupronickel in about 1095 CE. The paktong alloy
was described as being made by adding small pills of naturally occurring yunnan ore to a bath of molten copper. When a
crust of slag formed, saltpeter was added, the alloy was stirred and the ingot was immediately cast. Zinc is mentioned as
an ingredient but there are no details about when it was added. The ore used is noted as solely available from Yunnan,
according to the story:

"San Mao Chun were at Tanyang during a famine year when many people died, so taking certain chemicals,
Ying projected them onto silver, turning it into gold, and he also transmuted iron into silver – thus enabling
the lives of many to be saved [through purchasing grain through this fake silver and gold] Thereafter all
those who prepared chemical powders by heating and transmuting copper by projection called their
methods "Tanyang techniques".[25]

The late Ming and Qing literature have very little information about paktong. However, it is first mentioned specifically by
name in the Thien Kung Khai Wu of circa 1637:

"When lu kan shih (zinc carbonate, calamine) or wo chhein (zinc metal) is mixed and combined with chih
thung (copper), one gets 'yellow bronze' (ordinary brass). When phi shang and other arsenic substances are
heated with it, one gets 'white bronze' or white copper: pai thong. When alum and niter and other chemicals
are mixed together one gets ching thung: green bronze."[25]

Ko Hung stated in 300 CE: "The Tanyang copper was created by throwing a mercuric elixir into Tanyang copper and
heated- gold will be formed." However, the Pha Phu Tsu and the Shen I Ching describing a statue in the Western
provinces as being of silver, tin, lead and Tanyang copper – which looked like gold, and could be forged for plating and
inlaying vessels and swords.[25]

Joseph Needham et al. argue that cupronickel was at least known as a unique alloy by the Chinese during the reign of Liu
An in 120 BCE in Yunnan. Moreover, the Yunnanese State of Tien was founded in 334 BCE as a colony of the Chu. Most
likely, modern paktong was unknown to Chinese of the day – but the naturally occurring Yunnan ore cupronickel alloy
was likely a valuable internal trade commodity.[25]

Greco-Bactrian coinage
In 1868, W. Flight discovered a Greco-Bactrian coin comprising 20% nickel that dated from 180 to 170 BCE with the bust
of Euthydemus II on the obverse. Coins of a similar alloy with busts of his younger brothers, Pantaleon and Agathocles,
were minted around 170 BCE. The composition of the coins was later verified using the traditional wet method and X-ray
fluorescence spectrometry.[25] Cunningham in 1873 proposed the "Bactrian nickel theory," which suggested that the coins
must have been the result of overland trade from China through India to Greece. Cunningham's theory was supported by
scholars such as W. W. Tarn, Sir John Marshall, and J. Newton Friend, but was criticized by E. R. Caley and S. van R.
Cammann.[25]

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In 1973, Cheng and Schwitter in their new analyses suggested that the Bactrian alloys (copper, lead, iron, nickel and
cobalt) were closely similar to the Chinese paktong, and of nine known Asian nickel deposits, only those in China could
provide the identical chemical compositions.[25] Cammann criticized Cheng and Schwitter's paper, arguing that the decline
of cupronickel currency should not have coincided with the opening of the Silk Road. If the Bactrian nickel theory were
true, according to Cammann, the Silk Road would have increased the supply of cupronickel. However, the end of Greco-
Bactrian cupronickel currency could be attributed to other factors such as the end of the House of Euthydemus.[25]

European history
The alloy seems to have been rediscovered by the West during alchemy experiments. Notably, Andreas Libavius, in his
Alchemia of 1597, mentions a surface-whitened copper aes album by mercury or silver. But in De Natura Metallorum in
Singalarum Part 1, published in 1599, the same term was applied to "tin" from the East Indies (modern-day Indonesia and
the Philippines) and given the Spanish name, tintinaso.[25]

Richard Watson of Cambridge appears to be the first to discover that cupronickel was an alloy of three metals. In
attempting to rediscover the secret of white-copper, Watson critiqued Jean-Baptiste Du Halde's History of China (1688)
as confusing the term paktong'., He noted the Chinese of his day did not form it as an alloy but rather smelted readily
available unprocessed ore:

"...appeared from a vast series of experiments made at Peking- that it occurred naturally as an ore mined at
the region, the most extraordinary copper is pe-tong or white copper: it is white when dug out of the mine
and even more white within than without. It appears, by a vast number of experiments made at Peking, that
its colour is owing to no mixture; on the contrary, all mixtures diminish its beauty, for, when it is rightly
managed it looks exactly like silver and were there not a necessity of mixing a little tutenag or such metal to
soften it, it would be so much more the extraordinary as this sort of copper is found no where but in China
and that only in the Province of Yunnan". Notwithstanding what is here said, of the colour of the copper
being owing to no mixture, it is certain the Chinese white copper as brought to us, is a mixt [sic: mixed]
metal; so that the ore from which it was extracted must consist of various metallic substances; and from
such ore that the natural orichalcum if it ever existed, was made."[25]

During the peak European importation of Chinese white-copper from 1750 to 1800, increased attention was made to its
discovering its constituents. Peat and Cookson found that "the darkest proved to contain 7.7% nickel and the lightest said
to be indistinguishable from silver with a characteristic bell-like resonance when struck and considerable resistance to
corrosion, 11.1%".

Another trial by Andrew Fyfe estimated the nickel content at 31.6%. Guesswork ended when James Dinwiddie of the
Macartney Embassy brought back in 1793, at considerable personal risk (smuggling of paktong ore was a capital crime by
the Chinese Emperor), some of the ore from which paktong was made.[26] Cupronickel became widely understood, as
published by E. Thomason, in 1823, in a submission, later rejected for not being new knowledge, to the Royal Society of
Arts.

Efforts in Europe to exactly duplicate the Chinese paktong failed due to a general lack of requisite complex cobalt-nickel-
arsenic naturally occurring ore. However, the Schneeberg district of Germany, where the famous Blaufarbenwerke made
cobalt blue and other pigments, solely held the requisite complex cobalt-nickel-arsenic ores in Europe.

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At the same time, the Prussian Verein zur Beförderung des Gewerbefleißes (Society for the Improvement of Business
Diligence/Industriousness) offered a prize for the mastery of the process. Unsurprisingly, Dr E.A. Geitner and J.R. von
Gersdoff of Schneeberg won the prize and launched their "German silver" brand under the trade names Argentan and
Neusilber (new silver).[26]

In 1829, Percival Norton Johnston persuaded Dr. Geitner to establish a foundry in Bow Common behind Regents' Park
Canal in London, and obtained ingots of nickel-silver with the composition 18% Ni, 55% Cu and 27% Zn.[26] Between 1829
and 1833, Percival Norton Johnson was the first person to refine cupronickel on the British Isles. He became a wealthy
man, producing in excess of 16.5 tonnes per year. The alloy was mainly made into cutlery by the Birmingham firm William
Hutton and sold under the trade-name "Argentine".

Johnsons' most serious competitors, Charles Askin and Brok Evans, under the brilliant chemist Dr. EW Benson, devised
greatly improved methods of cobalt and nickel suspension and marketed their own brand of nickel-silver, called "British
Plate".[26]

By the 1920s, a 70–30 copper-nickel grade was developed for naval condensers. Soon afterwards, a 2% manganese and 2%
iron alloy now known as alloy C71640 was introduced for a UK power station which needed better erosion resistance
because the levels of entrained sand in the seawater. A 90–10 alloy first became available in the 1950s, initially for
seawater piping, and is now the more widely used alloy.

See also
Brass (copper alloyed with zinc)
Bronze (copper alloyed with tin)
Copper alloys in aquaculture
Copper in heat exchangers
Nickel silver (another group of Cu-Ni alloys)

References
1. Sakiewicz P.,Nowosielski R., Babilas R. Production aspects of inhomogeneous hot deformation in as-cast CuNi25
alloy, Indian Journal of Engineering & Materials Sciences, Vol. 22, August 2015, pp. 389-398
2. Deutsches Kupfer-Institut (Hrsg.): Kupfer-Nickel-Zink-Legierungen. Berlin 1980.
3. Marine Applications for Copper-Nickel Alloys
http://www.copper.org/applications/marine/cuni/applications/#non_marine
4. Kobelco: Copper alloy tubes for heat-exchanger; Shinko Metal Products, Japan;
http://www.shinkometal.co.jp/catalog/copperalloy-en-sc.pdf
5. Copper-Nickel Alloys in Shipbuilding and Repair
http://www.copper.org/applications/marine/cuni/applications/shipbuilding_and_repair/
6. Copper-Nickel Alloys in Desalination Plants
http://www.copper.org/applications/marine/cuni/applications/desalination_plants/
7. Copper-Nickel Alloys in Offshore Oil and Gas Platforms and Processing
http://www.copper.org/applications/marine/cuni/applications/offshore_oil_and_gas/
8. Copper-Nickel Alloys in Power Generation
http://www.copper.org/applications/marine/cuni/applications/power_generation/
9. Copper-Nickel Alloys in Seawater System Design
http://www.copper.org/applications/marine/cuni/applications/seawater_system_design/
10. Copper-Nickel Alloys in Seawater System Components
http://www.copper.org/applications/marine/cuni/applications/seawater_system_components/
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11. Copper-Nickel Alloys in Boat and Ship Hulls http://www.copper.org/applications/marine/cuni/applications/hulls/

12. Copper-Nickel in Coinage (http://www.copper.org/applications/marine/cuni/applications/coinage/)
13. "The United States Mint: Coin Specifications" (http://www.usmint.gov/about_the_mint/index.cfm?action=coin_specific
ations). Retrieved 2008-06-11.
14. "Currency in Circulation: Introduction to Coins" (https://www.webcitation.org/5t41V6ltH?url=http://eng.bok.or.kr/broadc
ast.action?menuNaviId=1708). Archived from the original (http://eng.bok.or.kr/broadcast.action?menuNaviId=1708)
on 2010-09-27. Retrieved 2010-09-27.
15. Robert Monro Black, The history of electric wires and cables Science Museum (Great Britain), IET, 1983, ISBN 0-
86341-001-4, p. 161
16. Cryogenic Properties of Copper-Nickel http://www.copper.org/applications/marine/cuni/properties/cryogenic/
17. Low-Temperature Properties of Copper and Copper Alloys http://www.copper.org/publications/pub_list/pdf/104-5-low-
temperatuare.pdf
18. Mechanical Properties of Copper and Copper Alloys at Low Temperatures
http://www.copper.org/resources/properties/144_8/
19. Properties of Copper-Nickel Alloys http://www.copper.org/applications/marine/cuni/properties/
20. Physical Properties of Copper-Nickel (http://www.copper.org/applications/marine/cuni/properties/physical)
21. Copper-Nickel Alloy Product Forms http://www.copper.org/applications/marine/cuni/forms/
22. Copper-Nickel Alloy Fabrication http://www.copper.org/applications/marine/cuni/fabrication/
23. Copper-Nickel Standards http://www.copper.org/applications/marine/cuni/standards/
24. Ancient Chinese weapons (http://www.chinatoday.com.cn/English/e20026/sunzi1.htm) Archived (https://web.archive.o
rg/web/20050307083704/http://www.chinatoday.com.cn/English/e20026/sunzi1.htm) 2005-03-07 at the Wayback
Machine. and A halberd of copper-nickel alloy, from the Warring States Period. (http://www.chinatoday.com.cn/Englis
h/e20026/images/t20026/p581.jpg) Archived (https://archive.is/20120527042518/www.chinatoday.com.cn/English/e20
026/images/t20026/p581.jpg) 2012-05-27 at Archive.is
25. Joseph Needham, Ling Wang, Gwei-Djen Lu, Tsuen-hsuin Tsien, Dieter Kuhn, Peter J Golas, Science and civilisation
in China (https://books.google.com/books?id=BYixSmXUCuMC&pg=PA237): Cambridge University Press: 1974,
ISBN 0-521-08571-3, pp. 237–250
26. Mcneil I Staff, Ian McNeil Encyclopaedia of the History of Technology: Routledge: 2002: ISBN 0-203-19211-7: pp98

External links
Copper-Nickel Alloys (http://www.copper.org/applications/marine/cuni/)
Copper-Nickel-Alloys: Properties, Processing, Applications (http://www.copper.org/applications/marine/cuni/propertie
s/DKI_booklet.html) (Source: German Copper Institute (DKI))]
Copper-Nickel Alloys for Seawater Corrosion Resistance and Antifouling - A State of the Art Review (http://www.copp
er.org/applications/marine/cuni/properties/corrosion/corrosion_resistance_and_antifouling.html) (C.A. Powell and H.T.
Michels; Corrosion 2000, NACE March 2000 (© NACE))

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