Chapter 03

Nonferrous alloys

Nonferrous alloys
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Nonferrous metals

Steel and other ferrous alloys are consumed in exceedingly large

quantities because they have such a wide range of mechanical
properties,
 fabricated with relative ease,
 economical to produce.

However, they have some distinct limitations,

(1) relatively high density,
(2) comparatively low electrical conductivity, and
(3) an inherent susceptibility to corrosion in some common
environments.
Thus, for many applications it is advantageous or even necessary to
utilize other alloys having more suitable property combinations

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 Nonferrous metals
Light Weight

Stiff

High Thermal
properties

Nonferrous Oxidation
alloys resistance

Corrosion
resistance

Electrical
conductivity

Biocompatibility
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 Types Nonferrous alloys
Aluminum and its alloys
 Magnesium and its alloys
Titanium and its alloys
Copper and its alloys
 Zinc and its alloys
 Nickel and its alloys

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Density of metals
Metal Density(g/cm3)

Iron 7.87

Steel 7.8
Ferrous

Aluminum 2.7

Magnesium 1.74 Light Metals

Titanium 4.54

Copper 8.96

Zinc 7.13 Non ferrous

Nickel 8.89

Lead 11.36

Silver 10.49

Gold 19.32

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 Energy consumption of nonferrous
alloys
Energy consumption

Ti

Mg

increases
Energy consumption
Al

Cu

Zn

Total energy consumption in megawat Steel

hours for each stage of production (1993).
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Aluminum and its alloys
Aluminum and its alloys are characterized by a relatively low density

high electrical and thermal conductivities, and

It is good resistant to corrosion due to formation of alumina.

Since aluminum has an FCC crystal structure, its ductility is retained

even at very low temperatures.

The chief limitation of aluminum is its low melting temperature

[660C (1220F)], which restricts the maximum temperature at which

Low hardness/wear resistance

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Aluminum and its alloys cont.

The mechanical strength of aluminum may be enhanced by

cold work and by alloying; however, both processes tend to
diminish resistance to corrosion.

It can be alloyed with copper, magnesium, silicon,

manganese, and zinc.

Heat treatable and non heat treatable

it can also be strengthened by precipitation hardening

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Aluminum and its alloys cont.

Al-Cu

Cast Al-Si

Aluminum alloys Suitable for casting

Rolled
Wrought Extruded
Forged

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 Applications of Aluminum and its
alloys
Building/construction
Electrical conductors
Machinery/equipment
 Container
 Packaging

Nonferrous alloys
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Magnesium and its alloys

• It has a density, 1.7 g/cm3,which is the lowest of all the structural

metals; therefore, its alloys are used where light weight is an
important consideration (e.g., in aircraft components).
• It has an HCP crystal structure, is relatively soft, and has a low
elastic modulus
• Magnesium, like aluminum, has a moderately low melting
temperature [651C (1204F)].
• Under normal atmospheric conditions magnesium alloys are
corrosion resistant but it is unstable especially susceptible to
corrosion in marine environments.
• Fine magnesium powder ignites easily when heated in air;
consequently, care should be exercised when handling it in this
state.
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Magnesium and its alloys cont.

• It can be classified as cast or wrought, and some of them are

heat treatable.
• It has high machinablity
• The problem with Magnesium is high reactivity during
melting process
• Largest use of Mg is in tablets

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Application of Magnesium alloys

Used as alloying element for aluminum, steel and cast iron.

 Die casting for aerospace
Light weight bodies.

Nonferrous alloys
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Titanium and its alloys
High strength to weight ratio
Moderate-high temperature properties
Corrosion resistance
 Biocompatibility
 Shape memory
limitations
It is chemical reactivity with other materials at elevated
temperatures.
High cost
 Difficulty in extraction

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Applications of Titanium and its
alloys
 Structure of high speed aircrafts
 75% in aerospace
 Chemical industry

Hip-joint component

National science centre, Scotland

Turbine blades
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Nonferrous alloys
15
Copper and its alloys

High electrical conductivity

High thermal conductivity
High corrosion resistance
Good ductility and malleability
Reasonable tensile strength

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Copper and its alloys
It has two major classifications
Brass
oIt is the most common copper alloys with zinc, as a
substitution impurity and alloying element.
Bronze
The bronzes are alloys of copper and several other elements,
including tin, aluminum, silicon, and nickel.
These alloys are somewhat stronger than the brasses,
yet they still have a high degree of corrosion resistance.

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Applications of Copper and its alloys

Electrical conductance
Plating on components

Copper plating Electronic products

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Zinc and its alloys

Fast rate of die casting

Have low melting point
 Excellent atmospheric corrosion resistance.
 Ability to form a well-adhering
coating on steel.

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Zinc diecast 19

Zinc roof protection

Nickel and it’s alloys
Tough and ductile
Good at high and low temperature strength
High oxidation resistance
Good corrosion resistance

Aerospace flow bodies

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THE REFRACTORY METALS

• Metals that have extremely high melting temperatures

• It includes are niobium (Nb), molybdenum (Mo), tungsten (W), and tantalum
(Ta).
• Melting temperatures range between 2468C (4474F) for niobium and 3410C
(6170F), the highest melting temperature of any metal, for tungsten.
• Interatomic bonding in these metals is extremely strong, which accounts for
the melting temperatures, and, in addition, large elastic moduli and high
strengths and hardness.
• The applications of these metals are varied.
For example,
tantalum and molybdenum are alloyed with stainless steel to improve its corrosion
resistance.
Molybdenum alloys are utilized for extrusion dies and structural parts in space vehicles

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Noble metals

• The noble or precious metals are a group of eight elements that have some
physical characteristics in common.
• They are expensive (precious) and are superior or notable
• soft, ductile, and oxidation resistant.
• The noble metals are silver, gold, platinum, palladium, rhodium, ruthenium,
iridium, and osmium;
• silver, gold and platinum are most common and are used extensively in
jewelry.
• Silver and gold may be strengthened by solid-solution alloying with copper;
• Alloys of both silver and gold are employed as dental restoration materials;
also, some integrated circuit electrical contacts are of gold.
• Platinum is used for chemical laboratory equipment, as a catalyst (especially
in the manufacture of gasoline), and in thermocouples to measure elevated
temperatures.

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THE SUPERALLOYS

The super alloys have superlative combinations of

properties.
Most are used in aircraft turbine components, which must
withstand exposure to severely oxidizing environments and
high temperatures for reasonable time periods.
density is an important consideration because centrifugal
stresses are diminished in rotating members when the
density is reduced.
In addition to turbine applications, these alloys are utilized
in nuclear reactors and petrochemical equipment.

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THE SUPERALLOYS cont.

Iron based alloys:

 32% to 67% Fe, 15% to 22% Cr and 9% to 38% Ni.
Cobalt based alloys:
 30% to 65% Co, 19% to 30% Cr and up to 35% Ni.
 they retain their strength at high temp. but not as strong
as Ni-base superalloys
Nickel based alloys:
 38% to 76% Ni, up to 27% Cr and 20% Co.
 are the most common superalloys

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Applications of SUPERALLOYS

aircraft turbine

petrochemical equipment.

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Extraction of aluminum

An important ore of aluminum is bauxite ,Hydrated Al2O3

Bauxite can’t reduced to metal by heating with coke(as in
the case of iron ore),because aluminum atoms are firmly
combined with oxygen atoms to detached by carbon.
Due to this reason an expensive electrolytic process is
employed to reduce bauxite into pure aluminum.
Each Kg of aluminum requires about 91MJ of electrical
energy, the smelting plant should be located to cheap
hydroelectric power.

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 Extraction of aluminum

Alumina
Production

Bauxite

Alumina Alumina

Aluminum
27
 Alumina production from bauxite
Bauxite is washed with caustic soda (sodium
hydroxide) at high pressure and temperature.
The resulting liquor contains a solution of
sodium aluminate and un dissolved bauxite
residues containing iron, silicon, and titanium.
These residues sink gradually to the botom of
the tank and are removed.
The clear sodium aluminate solution is Bauxite

pumped into a huge tank called a precipitator.

The particles sink to the botom of the tank, are
removed, and are then passed through a rotary
or fluidised calciner at 1100°C to drive off the Alumina

chemically combined water. The result is a white

powder, pure alumina.

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Extraction of aluminum
Al2O3 is dissolved in carbon bath
of molten cryolite (Na3AlF6)
The mixture is electrolyzed
This causes the liquid aluminum
to be deposited at the cathode
as a precipitate, while the carbon
anode is oxidized to carbon
dioxide

Alumina

Aluminum
Nonferrous alloys
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Copper production

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The FFC-Cambridge Process

The FFC (Fray-Farthing-Chen) - Cambridge Process was

discovered in 1997
They found that metal could be directly produced from its
oxide by negatively charging it in a molten salt electrolytic
cell.
FFC Cambridge process has many similarities to the
cathodic refining technique employed for purification of
reactive metals from oxygen dissolved in them .
It is a natural extension of the cathodic refining of metal-
oxygen solid solutions.

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The FFC-Cambridge Process

The FFC-Cambridge Process is a relatively simple process,

with low labour and energy requirements.
It operates by placing a metal-oxide into a molten calcium
chloride salt bath (CaCl2), and making it a cathode
• Consequently, the oxygen from the metal-oxide becomes
ionised through the half reaction presented below
MO= M + O2-
MO= Metal oxide
M= Metal

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The FFC process for production
of NiTi from mixed metal oxides

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The FFC process cont.

Electrode cell setup

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Schematic diagram of the furnace
The FFC process cont.

Sintered pellets

Before electrolysis

Reduction in
diameter
Black Pellets

After electrolysis

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The FFC process cont.
Element Weight% Atomic%
NiO-TiO2
O 42.64 71.31

Ti 24.79 13.85

Ni 32.57 14.84

SEM picture of sintered pellet

Spectrum Ti Ni Total

Spectrum 1 42.65 57.35 100.00

Spectrum 2 42.10 57.90 100.00

Spectrum 3 46.81 53.19 100.00

Spectrum 4 46.19 53.81 100.00

NiTi interior structure after electrolysis

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Comparison of FFC methods with
the conventional

TiNi alloy production by conventional method

TiNi alloy production by FFC method

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 End of chapter three

Prepare For Quiz 2.......5%

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 Quiz 2..........5%
1.What are the basic mineral ores used to iron
production?
2.State the different methods of steel production ?
3.What is the largest use of magnesium?
4.What are the two major group of copper alloy?
5.Write at least two limitation of nonferrous alloy?

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