What kind of metal is brass - Metals and their processing

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What is copper and brass

Copper is a non-ferrous metal. Its color is reddish-pink, it is pliable when working, soft and malleable. It has high thermal and electrical conductivity, so copper is often used to produce:

parts of electrical appliances;
cables;
radiators.

Copper is not hardened because it becomes hard even after cold forging. It tends to become covered with patina - a green coating that occurs when the ambient humidity is high.

To increase strength, improve a number of other indicators and reduce the cost of the material, impurities are added to it and an alloy is obtained.

One such alloy is brass.

In the classic version it contains a third of zinc.

Brass is golden yellow, stronger and harder. It does not oxidize so intensively and is not so plastic.

Sometimes, depending on the purpose of the alloy, they add:

Similarities and differences

Brass alloy consists mostly of copper, so it is natural that they are similar not only visually, but also in some properties. The more copper in the alloy, the more similar their colors will be. This is where the exact coincidences end.

Visually, brass alloys with less than 80% copper are easily distinguished. They are slightly similar to gold, as they have a pronounced yellow tint. The more zinc, the lighter the shade.

Because of this, brass is even used to counterfeit or imitate gold. Copper has a main shade of reddish, which often has a pink tint.

With a strong decrease in temperature, brass does not lose its relatively limited ductility and does not become brittle. Conducts electricity and heat worse.

They differ in such a way as hardness.

Copper is softer and more ductile, while brass, on the contrary, is hard and it is difficult to give it any shape without annealing.

The shavings are also different: for brass they are needle-shaped, for copper they are twisted into a spiral.

Let's look at the properties that brass and copper have and whether they have any differences:

Copper	Brass
Plastic, soft	Solid
Reddish-brown-pink tint	Golden tone
Lower sound on impact	Alt
Heavy	Easier
The shavings are twisted into a spiral	Needle shavings

How to tell the difference?

Most often you can distinguish by:

mind;
weight;
degree of hardness

without the use of any tools or equipment.

But there are situations when, for accuracy, it is necessary to use:

reagents,
tools,
devices.

Before assessing the scrap that you are going to take to the collection point, you need to clean it of dirt, otherwise you won’t be able to accurately determine it by eye.

By color

Both metals, although to varying degrees, can develop a patina.

Therefore, do not forget to clean the scrap well.

If an object has been in the open air or in water for a long time, the patina layer is difficult to remove.

Sometimes it will be justified to purchase a special cleaning product.

It is advisable to inspect the scrap under a powerful white light.

This means that you can view it either under the sun on a fine day or under a bright fluorescent lamp. Incandescent lamp is not suitable.

Pure copper will have a reddish-brown tint, sometimes with a pink tint. Keep in mind that brass can be red or orange. This type is commonly used for decorations and water pipes.

If the material has an orange, yellow or golden tint, you can be almost sure that it is brass.

Source: https://pellete.ru/stal/stal-i-latun-otlichiya.html

How to distinguish bronze from brass at home?

Education January 5, 2017

There are a number of ways that will tell you how to distinguish bronze from brass. In the presented material I would like to consider the simplest and most accessible solutions for implementing this task. Let's find out how to distinguish bronze from brass at home.

What is bronze?

Before we figure out how to distinguish bronze from brass, let's find out what each alloy is. Let's start with bronze. So, bronze is an alloy of tin and copper, with admixtures of silicon, aluminum, beryllium and lead. It is the quality of the tin used that largely determines the nature of the future alloy.

There is a special type of bronze, in the manufacture of which tin is replaced with nickel or zinc. This alloy is known as spiatr. Essentially, the material is a cheap version of bronze, which is not of the best quality.

According to the above manufacturing principles, bronze is divided into tin and tin-free. At the beginning of the last century, metallurgists produced arsenic bronze. However, due to its high toxicity, the material was never widely used.

What is brass?

Brass is practically the same alloy as bronze. But instead of the alloying composition in the form of tin, zinc is used here in combination with copper. Sometimes lead, iron, nickel, manganese, and other elements are added to the alloy.

The ancient Romans knew how to produce brass. They were the first to learn how to combine molten copper with zinc ore. Pure zinc began to be used for the production of brass only at the end of the 18th century in Britain. The British often used the alloy to create fake gold, because brass, like a noble metal, has an attractive sunny shine.

Today the material is widely used to create the so-called bimetal - an alloy where steel is combined with brass. This solution contributes to the production of metal that is resistant to corrosion and abrasion. At the same time, bimetal products have good ductility.

Defining Differences Between Bronze and Brass

How to distinguish bronze from brass? The difference between the presented alloys is as follows:

Brass is produced by combining zinc with copper. In turn, bronze is produced by alloying copper with tin.
Bronze can be in contact with sea and salt water for a long time without destroying the structure of the material. Brass requires additional processing in the form of alloying.
Bronze has increased resistance to mechanical wear and is a durable material. For this reason, the alloy is widely used to create all kinds of sculptures and monuments. Brass is not suitable for these purposes, although it is used as elements of artistic products.
How to distinguish copper from brass and bronze? Copper has a reddish tint. At the same time, bronze has a dark brown color and a coarse-grained structure. Brass has a yellow tint and is a fine-grained material.

Differences between bronze and brass according to weight

How to distinguish bronze from brass based on the weight of the materials? It is worth noting that bronze is a fairly heavy alloy. In equal volumes of workpieces, bronze will be clearly heavier than brass. Therefore, you can distinguish products from individual alloys by weighing them on your palms.

How to distinguish alloys by heating?

You need to try to distinguish between materials using the thermal effect method. However, the results in this case will be more reliable. What do we have to do? It is necessary to heat both alloys using a gas burner to a temperature of more than 600°C. With this exposure, an ashen-colored coating forms on the surface of the brass product, which is zinc oxide. At the same time, the bronze will remain in its original form.

After heating, the brass will become more ductile. Bronze does not change its physical properties when exposed to high temperatures. If you try to bend a brass workpiece, the structure of the latter will not be damaged. As for bronze, it will definitely break at the bend.

How to distinguish brass from bronze with a magnet?

As noted above, bronze contains tin and lead. These materials can be attracted by a magnet. The only thing required to carry out the experiment is to find a fairly strong magnet. When using it, the bronze will slightly stick to the surface. The magnet will not have any effect on brass.

Finally

As you can see, there are a number of ways that allow you to distinguish bronze from brass at home. In most cases, there are pronounced visual differences between products made from these alloys. Therefore, to cope with the task, sometimes it is enough just to carefully consider both materials.

Source: https://monateka.com/article/179115/

Is brass magnetic or not - Metals and their processing

If identifying pure copper from its alloys is a quite feasible task at home, then it is quite difficult to discern the differences between brass and bronze. The main reason for this is the existence of many brands of these compounds.

For example, brass is an alloy of copper with zinc as the base alloying component. But the Zn content in the compound varies over a wide range of values: 4 – 45%.

Naturally, high-copper brass grade L96 will differ significantly from L59-1.

Brass washers brand L96

Bushings made of tin-free bronze, brand BrA9Zh3

As can be seen from the top 2 photographs with images of parts made of brass and bronze, it is practically impossible to distinguish these 2 metals (alloys) visually; perhaps only a specialist who has worked all his life with these copper alloys can do this.

The only sure way to determine the type of connection remains spectral analysis, using an analyzer that helps distinguish between different metals and alloys. The methods presented below for distinguishing bronze from brass at home should be taken quite carefully . Remember! None of the methods gives a guaranteed result.

See similar articles:

Visual approach

Alloys with a high content of the main alloying component are easily recognizable by color. The technique for visually distinguishing brass from bronze is as follows:

Brass is an alloy with a high zinc content. This causes the color of the compound to shift from the pink-red hue of pure copper to golden yellow tones. We can confidently say that the color of brass is closer to gold. Although scrap brass comes in different forms and different states, and it’s certainly not easy to identify with your eyes, the same applies to scrap bronze.
Bronze. The quantitative content of tin in the alloy determines the color of the compound. Bronze with a maximum Sn content of 33% is characterized by a silvery-white color. The alloy, containing at least 90% copper, also borrows its color - closer to brown-red tones.

Since in practice, compounds with a high tin content are rare, you can trust the following rule. Brass is a golden-yellow hue, bronze is reddish.

Pure physics

The density of copper alloys is the next criterion for distinguishing brass from bronze. However, the popular belief that scales will give a definite answer is incorrect. Confirmation of this is provided by connection densities:

rolled brass – 8.4 – 8.7;
yellow brass – 8.43;
bronze – 7.4 – 8.9.

All values are given in g/cc. As you can see, the weight of bronze, like its color, is highly dependent on the tin content. When its inclusion is at the level of 8%, the connection density is minimal and lower than that of brass. An increase in tin content leads to a heavier alloy. The result is that such bronze weighs more than brass. Therefore, using mass as a distinguishing criterion for copper alloys is not recommended in practice.

This video outlines the principle of calculating and determining metal based on weight and density:

How to distinguish brass from bronze with a magnet

There is no limit to human misconceptions. Most ordinary people are confident that a magnet is able to give a definite answer. To verify whether this is so, let us return to the chemical composition of the alloys. Of the main components of the compounds: copper, tin, zinc, aluminum, iron and nickel, only the last pair is magnetic. As a result, only grades of alloys containing Fe and Ni are capable of being attracted to a magnet. These are BrAZh bronzes, for example.

The alloy BrAZhN-10-4-4 has the greatest magnetic susceptibility, where the total proportion of iron and nickel is 7 – 11%. However, to get a noticeable effect you will need a powerful magnet, for example neodymium. Among brasses, grades containing iron or nickel are LAZH and LAN, respectively. The proportion of magnetic metals in them is 1–3%, which complicates identification even with neodymium.

However, the weak magnetic properties of some grades of copper alloys lead to rumors that this is an effective way to distinguish brass from bronze.

So, you should know that you CANNOT distinguish brass from bronze with a MAGNET!

— Brass and its magnetic properties:

Heat treatment

Temperature 600-650 °C is critical for zinc. The metal oxidizes when heated this way. This is a real way to visually distinguish bronze from brass in a burner flame:

Bronze. The alloy will simply heat up. Its color and mechanical properties will remain unchanged. Attempting to bend a bronze specimen may result in its destruction.
Brass. Oxidation of zinc causes an ashy coating on the surface of the joint. Additionally, after heat treatment at 600 °C, brass becomes ductile, and the alloy sample does not break when bent.

All that remains is to find a powerful burner. Here a gas stove or a lighter flame will not be enough.

— Melting bronze and brass:

Chemical technique

The use of reagents is an effective but destructive way to distinguish between copper alloys. Chemical analysis takes place in several stages:

The shavings are removed from brass and bronze.
An aqueous nitric acid solution is prepared with a 1:1 ratio.
The shavings are placed in various containers filled with an acid reagent.
Each tank is heated to a boil after the chips have completely dissolved.
The compositions are kept in a boiling state over low heat for 30 minutes.

The result is that the container with brass remains transparent, while a white tin precipitate forms in the bronze container. Naturally, the technology is not suitable for tin-free alloys.

Welding machine

What is the best way to distinguish bronze from brass? It is necessary to catch the arc with an electrode at the edge of the blank. Bronze has a smokeless process. On the contrary, exposing a brass blank to a welding arc will cause the zinc to burn out. The process is accompanied by the appearance of white smoke.

Spectral analysis is the only way with guaranteed results

The diversity of the chemical composition of copper alloys makes it difficult to accurately identify the type of connection. Each of the proposed methods for distinguishing brass and bronze does not provide a 100% guarantee. Therefore, if you need to get an accurate answer, it is better to contact a scrap metal collection point that has a spectral laboratory.

Source: https://magnetline.ru/metally-i-splavy/latun-magnititsya-ili-net.html

Scrap brass - types, prices

Brass is known as an alloy of two base metals: copper and zinc. Along with them, the compound may contain other elements: tin (limited content), lead, manganese, nickel and iron. The cost of recycled brass is determined by the percentage of copper, which is easily determined by knowing the brand of the connection.

Main Categories of Recycled Brass

The variety of copper-zinc alloy waste groups can be reduced to several main categories, which determine the price of the metal at acceptance points:

Brass mix. In fact, this group combines any form of lump scrap of brass alloys of different chemical compositions. Products, parts, and parts thereof that have traces of heat treatment, semi-finished materials, as well as paint and varnish materials are accepted. A significant share of this category is plumbing: taps, valves, etc. The amount of base blockage is set at a percentage level.
Brass radiators. In fact, these can be designs of heating batteries, where only the tubes are brass, and the plates themselves can be copper. The presence of traces of soldering is not critical upon acceptance. On the contrary, the presence of ferrous metals among scrap brass of this category is unacceptable. It is imperative to empty the radiators of water and other liquids before delivery. The minimum blockage value starts at a percentage, but can increase to 4% after assessing the appearance and cleanliness of the scrap metal.
Brass shavings. Both cut and loach-like forms are accepted. The requirements for the condition of the chips at most acceptance points are as follows: dry, non-magnetic, and free of foreign inclusions. The amount of basic blockage is 2 - 3%, the presence of lubricants from the machine doubles the parameter.

Scrap brass mix

Of course, this categorization of scrap brass is quite arbitrary and allows for certain deviations at various collection points for secondary non-ferrous metals. A more universal classification is the latest modification of GOST 1639-2009, adopted in the Russian Federation since 2011.

Brass scrap prices

As we have already written about acceptance, there are only a few types of scrap brass. These are brass mix, brass shavings, radiators. Average prices for brass scrap in Russia:

Scrap brass - 160 rubles per kilogram

Scrap brass shavings - 150 rubles per 1 kilogram

Scrap brass radiators - 170 rubles per 1 kilogram

When selling scrap brass, you can safely rely on these prices.

Sorting of rejected brass products, household and industrial waste in accordance with the state standard

The 2009 edition of the document, which replaced GOST 1639-93, includes 23 groups of brass scrap, differing in the condition of the metal, the chemical composition of the alloy, and the type of product.

Brass sleeves for scrap metal

For example, cartridges from rifle variants are placed in a separate category: revolver or rifle; to artillery. Despite such diversity, they are all made from a single brand of brass alloy L70.

Similar to the classification used at scrap metal collection points, scrap brass radiators are grouped under a separate type. Both the sections themselves and soldered tubes are accepted.

Brass radiator from Gazelle

Two categories are reserved for double brass waste. The first group contains lump scrap without a half. It also includes pipes, rods, scrap sheets and trims, tapes, wire materials, and die cutting. The second category includes brass waste from artistic products, musical instruments, and accessories. Flexible brass hoses, pressure gauges, heat exchange tubes, foil and wire mesh are also collected here.

Scrap of brass alloys with inclusions of other metals

The classification of lump waste brass continues with alloys containing, along with the base components copper and zinc, other metals:

Tin. This group covers a number of products of an artistic nature; many types of fittings are made of tin-containing brass alloys. The category contains blanks for instrument making: rods, sheets or strips; and difficult products used in marine shipbuilding.
Lead. Most products in this class relate to printing or are materials used in watchmaking. This also includes lead-alloyed rolled products used in the automotive industry: sheets, pipes, etc.
Manganese. This type of brass scrap is replenished with worn bushings, other bearing parts, shipbuilding fittings, and other products of this industry, such as propellers and their blades.
Aluminum. Waste brass alloys containing Al are also used in the manufacture of bearings, pipes, and corrosion-resistant parts. The compound is used in artistic crafts; insignia and pressure springs for many instruments are made from it.
Silicon. The alloy is used for the production of stamped products, cast bearings, bushings, and parts operating in the marine environment are made from it.

The next branched category of brass scrap is shavings. It is classified almost similarly to lump waste, including shavings of double brasses, as well as those obtained by processing alloys containing one of the metals listed above.

Scrap of specialized varieties is classified under separate categories:

mixed valves, taps;

Scrap brass - taps, valves

alloys containing nickel, iron;

Brass slag

The classification according to GOST is completed by industrial waste: slag, dust, furnace debris. However, this group is not accepted by all collection points for secondary non-ferrous metals.

Source: http://xlom.ru/vidy-metalloloma/lom-latuni-vidy-ceny/

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