This document provides an overview of various non-ferrous alloys including copper alloys like brass and bronze, aluminium alloys like duralumin and silumin, titanium alloys like Ti-6Al-4V, magnesium alloys and their properties and applications. It discusses the alloying elements, strengthening mechanisms, microstructure and common types of each alloy. Key alloys and their uses in various industries are also summarized.

1. Metallurgy &Metallurgy &
Materials ScienceMaterials Science
Dr.S.Jose
Dept of Mechanical Engg.,
TKM College of Engineering, Kollam
drsjose@gmail.com

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Module IV
 Ferrous Materials
 Non – ferrous alloys
 Composite Materials
 Metal matrix composites
 Smart Materials.
 Nano materials
 Bio materials
 Bioplastics.

3.  Copper and alloys
 Aluminium and alloys
 Magnesium and alloys
 Titanium and alloys
Non – ferrous alloys

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Most extensively used among non ferrous materials
Important properties are excellent electrical conductivity
and corrosion resistance
It occupies the second place among engineering
materials.
It is also having very good thermal conductivity, and
also it can be easily machined, welded, brazed and
soldered.
But, it lacks sufficient strength which makes it
Copper

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Over 50% of the copper produced is used for electrical
purposes like wires, switches and other articles which
carry electric current
Another chunk of copper goes into applications which
require higher thermal conductivity
These applications include, automotive radiators, water
heaters, refrigerators, heat exchangers, condensers etc
Due to the excellent corrosion resistance, copper and its
alloys find widespread usage in corrosive environments
Copper

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Strength of copper can be increased by different
methods like strain hardening, solid solution
strengthening and precipitation hardening.
Among these, most effective method is the second
one which is achieved by alloying of copper by
addition of elements like zinc, tin, aluminium etc.
to form solid solutions.
The solid solution alloys of copper are brasses,
Copper

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Brass is an alloy of copper and zinc with the zinc
content varying from 5 to 54%.
Small amounts of lead, tin or aluminium also are
added to impart specific properties to brass
The important properties of brass are
• Good strength, ductility and formability
• Good machinability
• Good electrical and thermal conductivity
Brass

8. Copper-Zinc Phase diagram

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A wide variety of brasses are in use today.
Solubility of zinc in α-solid solution increases from
32.5% at 900°C to about 38% at 455°C.
Copper and the α-solid solution are having FCC
structures, while the β-solid solution is of BCC
structure.
In the β-phase, copper and zinc atoms are randomly
dispersed at lattice points.
Brass

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Yellow α -brass:
Cartridge brass:
Admiralty brass:
Aluminium brass:
Red α -Brass:
Gilding metal:
Leaded red brass:
α-Brasses

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Muntz metal:
Naval brass:
Forging brass:
Duplex or (α + β) Brasses

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The term, bronze represents alloys of copper with
elements other than zinc.
The simplest bronze contains 88% Cu with 12% tin.
Other alloying elements like phosphorous, lead,
nickel etc. are also added to obtain favorable
properties.
Other than tin, elements like aluminium, silicon or
beryllium are also alloyed with copper producing
Bronzes

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Bronzes are softer and weaker than steel.
 Corrosion resistance, heat and electric conductivity are
also better than steel, while the cost is higher than
steels.
Compared to brasses, these are having lower coefficient
of friction, higher strength, toughness, corrosion
resistance and also higher cost.
Bronze is having good castability and anti-friction or
Bronzes

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Tin Bronze:
Gun metal:
Aluminium bronze:
Silicon bronze:
Beryllium bronze:
Bronzes

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 Aluminium occupies the third place
among commercially used engineering
materials.
 It has low density, low melting point
and high electrical and thermal
conductivities.
 It has low strength and hardness, but
high ductility and malleability.
Aluminium

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 On exposure to atmosphere, it forms a strong
film of aluminium oxide on its surface, which
prevents further oxidation and corrosion.
 It is employed for lightly loaded structures and
for electrical cables and similar items.
 Aluminium has good machinability, formability,
workability and castability.
 It is non-magnetic, non-toxic, easily available
and less expensive.
 The main drawback is its low strength and
hardness.
Aluminium

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The poor tensile strength of aluminium can be
increased by many methods like strain hardening,
solid solution hardening, age hardening and fiber
reinforcement.
By cold working, tensile strength of aluminium can be
increased by two times due to strain hardening.
Addition of alloying elements like copper,
manganese, magnesium, silicon etc. can increase the
Aluminium alloys

18. Aluminium- Copper phase diagram

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 Maximum solubility of copper in aluminium
is 5.65% at 550O
C and it reduces to 0.45%
at 300O
C.
 Alloys containing between 2.5 and 5%
copper will respond to heat treatment by
age hardening.
 Due to the increased strength, aluminium
alloys are widely used in commercial
applications.
 Two main groups of aluminium alloys are
wrought alloys and casting alloys.
Aluminium alloys

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 Wrought alloys : Al-Mn and Al-Mg alloys
form homogenous solid solutions and are
characterized by comparatively lower
strength and high ductility. Other examples
are avial (Al-Mg-Si) and duralumin (Al-Cu-
Mg).
 Casting alloys: The best known casting
alloy is the silumin alloys. Alloys of Al and
Cu also are suitable for casting. Many of the
casting alloys are heat treatable.
Aluminium alloys

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 Duralumin: A typical composition is 94% Al,
4% Cu and 0.5% each of Mg, Mn, Si and Fe.
 High tensile strength and electrical conductivity.
 Widely used for aeroplanes, surgical and
orthopedic equipments.
 Y-alloy: Composition of this alloy is 92.5%
Al, 4% Cu, 2% Ni and 1.5% Mg.
 High strength and hardness even at high
temperature such as 200o
C.
 Used for cylinder heads and crank cases of
engines.
Aluminium alloys

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 Magnelium: The major alloying elements in
this alloy are magnesium and copper with Ni,
Sn, Fe, Mn and Si in small amounts.
 Better tensile strength and machinability, but it is
brittle.
 Used by aircraft and automobile industries.
 Silumin alloys: Alloys based on Al-Si
system are known as silumin alloys.
 A typical silumin is the eutectic alloy with 88% Al
and 12% Si.
 Having good castability, corrosion resistance,
high ductility and low density.
Aluminium alloys

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 Titanium has two allotropic forms: upto
880O
C, it exists as α-titanium (HCP)and at
higher temperatures as β-titanium (BCC)
 It is a strong, ductile and light weight metal,
density of pure Ti is 60% of steel.
 High corrosion resistance and high strength
at elevated temperatures and widely used as
a structural material.
 Suitable for cold and hot working and has
good weldability.
 Machinability is much inferior to steel.
Titanium

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 The most important alloying elements for
titanium are Al, Cr, Mn, V, Fe, Mo and Sn
which considerably increase the mechanical
strength.
 Higher creep resistance, higher fatigue
strength, highest specific strength and good
corrosion resistance.
 Responds to heat treatment by precipitation
hardening.
 Ti-6Al-4V is the most widely used alloy,
accounting for about 45% of total titanium
production.
Titanium Alloys

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 Used for aerospace structures and turbines
due to the high specific strength, corrosion
resistance and strength at elevated
temperature.
 Titanium is used in the construction of
leaching and purification plants for cobalt
production.
 Due to the higher corrosion resistance,
titanium is also used in various chemical
processing equipments, valves and tanks.
Uses of Titanium Alloys

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 Magnesium has the HCP crystal structure.
 It is lighter and less ductile than aluminium.
 It is having poor modulus of elasticity, poor
resistance to wear, fatigue and creep.
 Its response to strengthening mechanisms
also is relatively poor.
 Solubility of aluminium in magnesium
increases with temperature
 This alloy responds well to age hardening
also
Magnesium

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 Addition of aluminium to magnesium increases
strength, hardness and castability.
 Addition of manganese to magnesium has very
little effect on the mechanical properties, but it
improves the corrosion resistance.
 Magnesium-aluminium-zinc alloys have higher
mechanical properties and good corrosion
resistance.
 In general, magnesium alloys have poor
ductility and formability, but poor fatigue and
stress corrosion resistance.
Magnesium Alloys

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 Magnesium alloys are used in the areas of
aerospace, high speed machinery,
transportation and material handling
equipments.
 Magnesium-manganese alloys are used for
sheet forming processes.
 Magnesium-aluminium-zinc alloys are
suitable for sand and die casting, extrusion
and forging processes.
Magnesium Alloys

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