Use Of Brass

Nowadays, brass has been widely used in people's daily life and industrial production, but many people only stay in the simple understanding of brass crafts, copper wares, chemical raw materials and so on. What is the use of brass? Understanding the use of brass can make better use of brass.

Brass is an alloy of copper and zinc. If brass is composed of copper and zinc, it is called ordinary brass. Brass is often used in the manufacture of valves, water pipes, connecting pipes of internal and external air conditioners and radiators.

Summary of the use of brass: Brass alloy with zinc as the main additive element has beautiful yellow, collectively known as brass. Copper-zinc binary alloy is called ordinary brass or simple brass. The brass above three yuan is called special brass or complex brass. Brass alloys containing less than 36% zinc have good cold working properties. For example, brass containing 30% zinc is often used to make cartridge case, commonly known as cartridge case brass or 73 brass. Brass alloys with zinc content ranging from 36% to 42% consist of solid solutions, of which 64 brass with zinc content of 40% is the most commonly used. In order to improve the properties of ordinary brass, other elements such as aluminum, nickel, manganese, tin, silicon and lead are often added. 

Aluminum can improve the strength, hardness and corrosion resistance of brass, but reduce the plasticity. It is suitable for use as condensing tubes and other corrosion resistant parts of seagoing vessels. Tin can improve the strength of brass and corrosion resistance to sea water, so it is called naval brass. It is used as marine thermal equipment and propeller. Lead improves the cutting performance of brass; this free-cutting brass is often used as a part of clocks and watches. Brass castings are often used to make valves and pipe fittings.

More special brass uses:

Usage of lead brass: Lead is insoluble in brass and distributed on grain boundaries as free particles. Lead brass has two kinds according to its structure: alpha and (alpha+beta). Alpha-lead brass can only be cold-deformed or hot-extruded because of the harmful effect of lead and its low plasticity at high temperature. (a + beta) lead brass has good plasticity at high temperature and can be forged.

Use of tin brass: The addition of tin in brass can significantly improve the heat resistance of the alloy, especially the seawater corrosion resistance. Therefore, tin brass is known as "naval brass".

Use of Manganese Brass: Manganese has higher solubility in solid brass. The addition of 1%-4% manganese in brass can significantly improve the strength and corrosion resistance of the alloy without reducing its plasticity.

Usage of iron brass: In iron brass, iron precipitates from iron-rich particles as nuclei to refine grains and prevent recrystallized grains from growing, thus improving the mechanical and technological properties of the alloy. Iron content in iron brass is usually less than 1.5%. Its structure is (alpha+beta). It has high strength and toughness, good plasticity at high temperature and deformation at cold state. The commonly used brand is Hfe59-1-1.

Use of nickel brass: nickel and copper can form continuous solid solution, significantly expanding the alpha phase region. The addition of nickel in brass can significantly improve the corrosion resistance of brass in the atmosphere and sea water. Nickel can also increase the recrystallization temperature of brass and promote the formation of finer grains.