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Copper Alloys

 

Brass Timepiece
 
  • Over 400 copper alloys are in use today.
  • Brass is an alloy of copper and zinc.
  • Bronze is an alloy of copper and tin, aluminum, silicon, and beryllium.
  • Copper-nickel and copper-silver alloys are important metals in today's world.
The industrial importance of copper in the 20th Century has been extended by the ease with which it combines with other metals. Tin and zinc have always been the principal alloying elements, but there are now many others - aluminum, beryllium, chromium, manganese, etc. - which form alloys with special mechanical and physical properties.

Alloys containing copper fall into main types: Copper-base alloys, such as brass, tin bronze and aluminum bronze, in which copper itself is the predominant element; and Copper-bearing alloys, such as certain aluminum alloys, high-duty alloys to resist severe corrosion, and steels and cast irons which are improved by small additions of copper. The proprietary alloy 'Monel', a mixture of copper and larger amounts of nickel, occupies an intermediate field between these two main classes.