alloy

Examples of alloy in the following topics:

• Alloys

  • An alloy is a mixture or metallic solid solution composed of two or more elements.
  • Complete solid solution alloys give single solid phase microstructure.
  • Alloy constituents are usually measured by mass.
  • In interstitial alloys, the atoms do not occupy the same sites.
  • However, for most alloys, there is one particular proportion of constituents, known as the "eutectic mixture," at which the alloy has a unique melting point.

• Occurrence of Metals

  • A native metal is any metal that is found in its metallic form in nature, either pure or as an alloy.
  • An alloy is a mixture of two or more elements in solid solution in which the major component is a metal.
  • Of all the metallic alloys in use today, the alloys of iron (steel, stainless steel, cast iron, tool steel, and alloy steel) make up the largest proportion both by quantity and commercial value.
  • Other significant metallic alloys are those of aluminium, titanium, copper, and magnesium.
  • Describe the characteristics of metal alloys and the natural occurence of native metals.

• Iron, Cobalt, Copper, Nickel, and Zinc

  • However, pure copper is too soft to have structural value, but copper alloys with zinc and tin to form harder brasses and bronzes.
  • Copper is the most heavily used of the coinage metals due to its electrical properties, its abundance (compared to silver and gold), and the properties of its brass and bronze alloys.
  • Zinc is used in alloys with copper to create a harder metal known as brass.
  • Like nickel, cobalt in the Earth's crust is found only in chemically combined form, save for small deposits found in alloys of natural meteoric iron.
  • Recall the characteristics of cobalt, copper, nickel and zinc in their elemental states and when combined in alloys.

• Aluminum

  • Aluminum is almost always alloyed, which markedly improves its mechanical properties, especially when tempered.
  • For example, the common aluminum foils and beverage cans are alloys of 92% to 99% aluminum.
  • A variety of countries, including France, Italy, Poland, Finland, Romania, Israel, and the former Yugoslavia, have issued coins struck in aluminum or aluminum-copper alloys

• General Properties of Metals

  • A metal can refer to an element, compound, or alloy that is a good conductor of both electricity and heat.
  • A metal can refer to an element, compound, or alloy that is a good conductor of both electricity and heat.

• Steelmaking and Refining

  • In refining, impure metal is purified; in steelmaking, impurities are removed from raw iron, and alloying elements are added.
  • In this stage, impurities such as sulfur, phosphorus, and excess carbon are removed from the raw iron, and alloying elements such as manganese, nickel, chromium, and vanadium are added to produce the exact steel required.
  • Blowing oxygen through molten pig iron lowers the carbon content of the alloy and changes it into low-carbon steel.

• Titanium, Chromium, and Manganese

  • Titanium, chromium, and manganese are transition metals that are used in many iron alloys to produce corrosion-resistant, durable, and lightweight steel.
  • Titanium can be alloyed with iron, aluminum, vanadium, molybdenum, and several other elements to produce strong, lightweight alloys that are used in a variety of industries, including:
  • It has many applications, especially in alloys with other elements such as iron.

• Preventing Corrosion

  • The corrosion-prone iron alloy steel is commonly coated with zinc, a more active metal, in a process known as galvanizing.
  • A contrast to the previous scenario can be seen when iron or an iron alloy is plated with a less active metal, such as tin.
  • Protecting iron alloys with a coating of a more active metal through the process of galvanizing prevents the alloys from corroding.

• Art of the Bronze Age

  • The Bronze Age took place circa 3,300-1,200 B.C. and is characterized by the use of copper and its alloy bronze as the chief hard materials in the manufacturing of implements and weapons.
  • Alloying of copper with zinc or tin to make brass or bronze was practiced soon after the discovery of copper.
  • The Bronze Age in Ireland commenced around 2000 BC, when copper was alloyed with tin and used to manufacture Ballybeg-type flat axes and associated metalwork.

• The Sican

  • Most importantly, the late Early Sicán period saw a major organizational and religious shift, by which the Sicán constructed monumental adobe structures, developed large-scale copper alloy smelting and metalworking, and developed the elaborate funerary tradition that would come to characterize the Middle Sicán.
  • Tumbaga, a thin sheet of low-karat gold alloy, was used to wrap ceramic vessels for the lower elites, while the upper elites had high karat gold alloys.
  • The elite East Tomb at Huaca Loro contained over a ton of diverse grave goods, over two-thirds of which were objects of arsenical bronze, tumbaga (low-karat gold), silver and copper alloys, and high-karat gold alloys.