Copper and Brass Alloys

Copper beryllium alloys have high strength and good thermal and electrical conductivities. High conductivity alloys and high strength alloys are the two major types of copper beryllium alloys. The high conductivity alloys have 0.2-0.7% of beryllium and high cobalt and nickel contents. The wrought high strength alloys consist of 1.6 to 2.0% of beryllium and nearly 0.3% of cobalt and the cast high-strength alloys contain up to 2.7% of beryllium. The wrought alloys are named as C17200 to C17400, and the cast alloys are designated as C82000 to C82800. C17200 alloys have high tensile strength of over 1380 MPa (200 ksi).

Copper beryllium alloys can be precipitation hardened or age hardened to achieve high strength. The cast alloys contain dendritic structure of alpha copper and beryllide phases. The wrought alloys have microstructure containing twinned grains of alpha copper with cobalt, nickel or cobalt and nickel beryllide particles dispersed in the structure. High conductivity beryllium copper alloys contain as much as 0.7% beryllium with some nickel and cobalt. The thermal conductivity of these alloys is greater than aluminium and slightly less than pure copper and are often used as electrical contacts.

Beryllium copper and its variety of alloys are utilized in very specific and often tailor-made applications such as oilfield tools, aerospace landing gears, robotic welding, and mold making applications. Additional non-magnetic properties make it ideal for down-hole wire line tools. These specific applications are the reason this copper is known as spring copper and other various names.

• Greater corrosion resistance
• Higher tensile strength
• Brilliant polish
• Excellent machine strength
• High creep resistance
• High temperature strenght
• Excellent mechanical properties