copper alioys

General Information


Copper is one of the most useful metals known to man, and it was one of the first to be utilized. Copper is a reddish-yellow material and is extremely ductile. Copper has a face-centered-cubic (fcc) crystal structure and has the second best electrical conductivity of the metals, second only to silver compared to which it has a conductivity of 97%. The thermal conductivity of copper is very high falling in between silver and gold. There are almost 400 different copper alloys depending on the commercial product made; rods, plates, sheets, strips, tubes, pipes, extrusions, foils, forgings, wires, and castings from foundries.

Cast Copper Alloys


Cast copper alloys generally have a great range of alloying elements than wrought alloys because of the nature of the casting process. The cast brasses consist of of copper-zinc-tin alloys (red, semi-red, and yellow). The cast bronzes consist of manganese bronzes (high-strength yellow brasses), leaded manganese bronze alloys (leaded high-strength yellow brasses), and copper-zinc-silicon alloys (silicon brasses and bronzes). There are four main families in the cast bronze alloys; copper-tin-lead, copper-tin-nickel, copper-tin, and copper-aluminum alloys.

Wrought Copper Alloys


Wrought alloys produced in a variety of different methods, including annealed, cold worked, hardened by heat treatments, or stress relieved. There are four main families of wrought copper (see table above); copper and high-copper alloys, brasses, bronzes, and copper nickel & nickel-silver alloys.

UNS Designations


UNS Numbers Types Alloy Names
C10000-C19999: Wrought Coppers, High-Copper Alloys
C20000-C49999: Wrought Brasses
C50000-C59999: Wrought Phosphor Bronzes
C60600-C64200: Wrought Aluminum Bronzes
C64700-C66100: Wrought Silicon Bronzes
C66400-C69800: Wrought Brasses
C70000-C79999: Wrought Copper nickels, nickel silvers
C80000-C82800: Cast Coppers, High-Copper Alloys
C83300-C85800: Cast Brasses
C86100-C86800: Cast Manganese Bronzes
C87200-C87900: Cast Silicon Bronzes and Brasses
C90200-C94800: Cast Tin Bronzes
C95200-C95800: Cast Aluminum Bronzes
C96200-C97800: Cast Copper Nickels, Nickel Silvers
C98200-C98800: Cast Leaded Copper
C99300-C99750: Cast Special Alloys