Aluminum

It is fcc and, therefore, very ductile. Very light, ~2.7 g/cc, and hence has very good strength/weight ratio. Very good thermal and electrical conductivity Low melting point, ~660C, and is hence easily cast. Very oxidation resistant on account of the thin, very tenacious and impenetrable oxide layer. Almost all Al alloys are weldable with care, more on that later. It is non-toxic, and hence finds major uses in food process industry. It has good machinability. Formable extrusions, sheet, deep drawable for beer cans etc. Alloy designation Two main alloy families; wrought and cast. Letter designations are used to indicate specific conditions: - F indicates that the alloy is in the as-fabricated state, nothing special has been done to control the properties. - W indicates that it has been solution treated - O indicates that it has been annealed (wrought alloys only) - H indicates strain hardened - T indicates a thermal treatment Wrought alloys - four numbers indicate the composition and the letter and number suffixes indicate the heat treated condition. 1xxx indicates commercially pure Al, 99% minimum e.g. 1040 is 99.4%Al, 1060 is 99.6%Al 2xxx indicates Cu as the principal alloying element 3xxx indicates Mn, ..etc. H designations xxxx-H1 strain hardened only .. xxxx-H3 strain hardened and stabilized by low temperature thermal treatment - the next figure following the H1, H2 or H3 indicates how much cold work was performed

xxxx-H_8

full hard

T designations - T1 cooled from working temperature and naturally aged . - T4 Solution treated and naturally aged - T6 Solution treated and furnace aged - etc, etc. Cast alloys again use 4 digits, but last is separated by a period and is either 0 indicating a casting or 1 indicating ingot form. - 1xx.x indicates 99.5%min aluminum - 2xx.x Cu - 3xx.x Si + Cu or Mg etc Alloying leads to the formation of intermetallic compounds. - many are age hardenable e.g. the classical Al-4Cu alloy is based on Cu for age hardening: precipitates are ' and/or CuAl2 etc. Annealing is done to remove stresses from cold work, particularly at intermediate stages of cold work Homogenizing is done to remove concentration gradients from castings ALLOYS 1100 99% Al 6061 1% Mg - 0.6% Si - 0.3% Cu - 0.2% Cr 356 6.5-7.5% Si - 0.6% Fe - 0.25% Cu - 0.35% Mn - Mg, Zn, Ti Al-Li Alloys Alloys containing 1-3%Li, which reduces the density by up to ~10% and increases the stiffness by a few % as well. MMC's The logical way of extending Al's range of applications to higher stress situations is to reinforce with fibers, whiskers or particulates. It is possible to tailor materials to have zero CTE, useful for space applications, or CTE which closely matches that of ceramic or electronic circuit board materials. CORROSION RESISTANCE - in ordinary air - very good of course

- pure Al is best, some alloys are poor, depends on heat treatment because the structure may be electrochemically inhomogeneous, local anodes and cathodes. - in water pitting corrosion - amphoteric
- Anodizing

10 - 15 m coating of very hard oxide.

Copper
Physical Characteristics. Face centered cubic - and therefore, very ductile. M.P. ~1084, therefore amenable to casting, die casting, permanent mould casting etc. ~8.9, so it is rather dense. Electrical (and thermal) conductivity very good indeed. Alloys Two major categories, of course, cast and wrought. Each has its own compositions and properties and designations, which are not to be committed to memory. Cu Alloys i) Low Alloy content - age hardening Cu-Be (& Cu-Cr) ~2%. Quench from 800C and age at 320C. Yield stress is comparable to alloy steels, up to ~1400MPa (200ksi). ii) Brasses - Cu/<38%Zn, entirely fcc - Cu/>50%Zn, entirely bcc. + - Cu/38-50%Zn two phase, therefore possibility for str. ht. trt. iii) Bronzes Strictly and historically applies to Cu-Sn alloys but nowadays copper plus almost anything is a bronze. Cu-Al is aluminum bronze. iv) Cupro-nickel Cu-Ni complete solid solution but the most important alloy is 70/30 Cu/Ni, which has very good corrosion resistance. Uses of these alloys. Copper most widely used for plumbing and electrical applications.

Brasses - also tubing but is prone to stress corrosion cracking and/or dezincification: to prevent the latter the zinc is kept below 15% or arsenical or antimony brass is used. Copper alloys can be strengthened by solid solution hardening, age hardening or just plain cold work. Bearing alloys, bronzes. Corrosion resistance against biofouling

Nickel
Properties M.P. 1450C Crystal structure fcc = 8.9g/cc Reasonable electrical conductivity, high permeability, so good for magnets. Good oxidation resistance when alloyed with Cr. e.g. IN 601 can be used up to 1150C Nichrome, Ni-20%Cr, heating elements. Generally good resistance to alkaline conditions. Uses >30% of all Ni used in stainless steel - largest single use. ~15% used in electroplating. Rest used in Nickel alloys and as alloying elements in other metals. Alloys Monel, Ni/Cu Inconel, Ni/Cr/Fe - corrosion resistance - high temp strength and oxidn. resistance

Superalloys Generally means alloy with lots of other alloying elements - but is applied particularly to Ni-based alloys. Ni-Cr-Fe with Al or Ti to form ' ' are ordered cuboids - Ni at face centers Al at corners - very resistant to creep and very difficult to form for the same reason. Some Ni alloys can be used up to ~90%Tm, - extremely impressive.

Zinc
M.P. 420C so v. easy to cast H.C.P. Strength = 7.1 g/cc Diecastings Zn-4Al-0.25Cu and Zn-4Al-1Cu - toys and other non-heavy duty parts, knobs etc., - susceptible to intergranular corrosion if the Fe, Pb, Cd or Sn is high (>0.005%) - For Al or Mg or Cu die castings, die wear is greater and replacement may be necessary after 100,000 shots. For Zn, some cavities may be used for >20 years and make millions of parts. Major alloying element is (4) Al plus a little Cu and/or Mg. Galvanizing - hot dip process is major use of zinc. - so not v. ductile - only moderate

Magnesium
Crystal structure - cph M.P. 650C = 1.7g/cc - the lightest common structural metal Nearly always alloyed - primarily with Al (but also with Mn to bind the Fe) and Zn. 50% used for alloying aluminum 30% for chemical process industry Much of rest in aircraft, automobile industries AZ 63 - (6Al-3Zn) Machine with care, very machinable, cast with extreme care!!

Titanium
Properties M.P. 1671C hcp to 882C, then bcc to M.P. 4.5 g/cc compared to 7.9 for Fe and 2.7 for Al. E better than Al or Mg, therefore, very high specific strength and modulus. Alloys C.p. Ti for chemical process industry - major addition is O2 for strengthening -alloys, additions of -stabilizers such as Al, Sn, Ni etc... + alloys balance of and stabilizers, e.g., Al, Sn, V, Mo, Mn, Cr etc. - gives alloys such as Ti-6Al-4V -alloys >10V, >10Mo, >8Mn etc... Can get a phase change with these alloys so they can be heat treated. Also, there are many intermetallic compounds possible so it is possible to get precipitation hardening. Corrosion resistance very good in oxidizing environments SCC possible in chloride environments - seawater Uses tubing, sheet and forgings. major attraction is low , oxidation resistance, and creep resistance up to ~550C. Weldable. Ti MMC's