Brass hardness

Odon acetate Odon, Saran polyethylene Teflon steel wood amber sealing wax hard mbber nickel, copper, brass, silver, old platinum sulfur acetate rayon polyester... 

Small amounts of tin (3—5%) are added to leaded red brass and semired brasses to increase the strength and hardness of alloys. For example, alloy UNS C 94700 (88% Cu, 5% Sn, 5% Ni, and 2% Zn) deoxidi2ed with phosphoms, is heat-treatable to provide high strength. 

Substances such as brass, wood, sea water, and detergent formulations are mixtures of chemicals. Two samples of brass may differ in composition, colour and density. Different pieces of wood of the same species may differ in hardness and colour. One sample of sea water may contain more salt and different proportions of trace compounds than another. Detergent formulations differ... 

This example of aluminium illustrates the importance of the protective him, and hlms that are hard, dense and adherent will provide better protection than those that are loosely adherent or that are brittle and therefore crack and spall when the metal is subjected to stress. The ability of the metal to reform a protective him is highly important and metals like titanium and tantalum that are readily passivated are more resistant to erosion-corrosion than copper, brass, lead and some of the stainless steels. There is some evidence that the hardness of a metal is a signihcant factor in resistance to erosion-corrosion, but since alloying to increase hardness will also affect the chemical properties of the alloy it is difficult to separate these two factors. Thus althou copper is highly susceptible to impingement attack its resistance increases with increase in zinc content, with a corresponding increase in hardness. However, the increase in resistance to attack is due to the formation of a more protective him rather than to an increase in hardness. 

Chlorides have probably received the most study in relation to their effect on corrosion. Like other ions, they increase the electrical conductivity of the water so that the flow of corrosion currents will be facilitated. They also reduce the effectiveness of natural protective films, which may be permeable to small ions the effect of chloride on stainless steel is an extreme example but a similar effect is noted to a lesser degree with other metals. Turner" has observed that the meringue dezincification of duplex brasses is affected by the chloride/bicarbonate hardness ratio. 

Dezincification of brasses This may occur, particularly in stagnant or slowly-moving warm or hot waters relatively high in chloride and containing little carbonate hardness. Dezincification of a brasses is inhibited by the usual arsenic addition (see Fig. 4.12), but two-phase brasses are liable to severe attack in some waters . In such waters the use of duplex-structure brass fittings should be avoided. 

It is hardly surprising that the preparation of surfaces of plain specimens for stress-corrosion tests can sometimes exert a marked influence upon results. Heat treatments carried out on specimens after their preparation is otherwise completed can produce barely perceptible changes in surface composition, e.g. decarburisation of steels or dezincification of brasses, that promote quite dramatic changes in stress-corrosion resistance. Similarly, oxide films, especially if formed at high temperatures during heat treatment or working, may influence results, especially through their effects upon the corrosion potential. 

Brass water fittings give no trouble except that dezincification may occur in acid waters or waters of high chloride content, especially when hot. This dezincification has three effects. Firstly, the replacement of brass by porous copper may extend right through the wall of the fitting and permit water to seep through. Secondly, the zinc which is dissolved out of the brass may form very voluminous hard corrosion products and eventually block the waterway —this is often the case in hot soft waters. Thirdly, and often the most important, the mechanical properties of the brass may deteriorate. For instance, a dezincified screwed union will break off when an attempt is made to unscrew it and a dezincified tap or ball-valve seat is readily eroded by the water. 

Homogeneous alloys of metals with atoms of similar radius are substitutional alloys. For example, in brass, zinc atoms readily replace copper atoms in the crystalline lattice, because they are nearly the same size (Fig. 16.41). However, the presence of the substituted atoms changes the lattice parameters and distorts the local electronic structure. This distortion lowers the electrical and thermal conductivity of the host metal, but it also increases hardness and strength. Coinage alloys are usually substitutional alloys. They are selected for durability—a coin must last for at least 3 years—and electrical resistance so that genuine coins can be identified by vending machines. 

The reddish metal was already known in prehistoric times. It occasionally occurs as a native metal, but mostly in conspicuous green ores, from which it is extracted relatively easily. It is convenient to work, but not very hard. Not very optimal as a tool ("Otzi the Iceman" had a copper axe with him). Only through the addition of tin is the more useful bronze obtained. Its zinc alloy is the versatile and widely used brass. Copper is one of the coinage metals. Water pipes are commonly made of copper. Its very good thermal and electrical conductivity is commonly exploited (cable ), as well as its durability (roofs, gutters), as the verdigris (basic copper carbonate) protects the metal. Cu phthalocyanines are the most beautiful blue pigments. Seems to be essential to all life as a trace element. In some molluscs, Cu replaces Fe in the heme complex. A 70-kg human contains 72 mg. 

Mixing molten copper with other metals yields a variety of alloys, such as bronze when alloyed with tin, brass with zinc, and arsenical copper with arsenic (see Table 34 and text below). All these alloys have extremely good mechanical and working properties and have, therefore, been employed for applications requiring strength and hardness (West 1982). 

The major uses are in metallurgy, primarily as an additive to lead, copper, brass and many lead-base bearing alloys to improve their mechanical and thermal properties. Small amounts are added to lead in the manufacture of lead shot to improve its sphericity also added to lead-base cable sheathing and battery grid metal to improve hardness. Addition of very small quantities to copper enhances the corrosion resistance. It prevents cracking in brass. 

Figure 5.20 Relationship between hardness and tensile strength for steel, brass and cast iron. Reprinted, by permission, from W. Callister, Materials Science and Engineering An Introduction, 5th ed., p. 140. Copyright 2000 by John Wiley Sons, Inc.

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