SubsTech     
SubsTech     

to Metals
to Copper alloys

Wrought brasses

Dr. Dmitri Kopeliovich

According to the Unified Numbering System (UNS):

Yellow Brasses are copper alloys, containing 5-41% of zinc (Zn) as the major alloying element. Wrought brasses (Gilding, Red Brass, Low Brass,Cartridge Brass, Yellow Brass, Muntz Metal) are designated with the numbers from C20500 through C28580.

Leaded brasses contain 12-41% of zinc (Zn) as the major alloying element and up to 3% of lead (Pb) as additional alloying element. Wrought leaded brasses (Free-Cutting Brass, Medium Leaded Brass, Forging Brass) are designated with the numbers from C31200 through C38590.

Tin brasses contain 5-41% of zinc (Zn) as the major alloying element and up to 3% of tin (Sn) and up to 2% of lead (Pb) as additional alloying elements. Wrought tin brasses (Admiralty Brass, Naval Brass) are designated with the numbers from C40400 through C49080.

Brasses containing up to 35% of zinc have mono-phase structure (α-phase).

These alloys are very ductile and possess very good formability in both cold and hot state.

Brasses containing 35-45% of zinc have binary phase structure (mixture of α- phase and β-phase).

These alloys are less ductile and they have good formability only in hot state and poor formability in cold state.

Wrought brasses may be strengthened by cold work (strain hardening). Ductility of the alloys decreases as a result of cold work.

Wrought brasses are used in architectural and decorative applications, for manufacturing automotive radiators and tanks, screw parts, heat exchangers tubes, marine hardware.

Chemical compositions of some wrought brasses

UNS Designation Trade mark Zn,% Pb,% Sn,% Fe,% Cu, %
C24000 Low Brass Balance. 0.05 max. - 0.05 max. 78.5-81.5
C26000 Cartridge Brass Balance. 0.07 max. - 0.05 max. 68.5-71.5
C27000 Yellow Brass Balance. 0.10 max. - 0.07 max. 63.0-68.5
C28000 Muntz Metal Balance. 0.30 max. - 0.07 max. 59.0-63.0
C35000 Medium Leaded Brass Balance. 0.8-2.0 - 0.15 max. 60.0-63.0
C36000 Free-Cutting Brass Balance. 2.5-3.7 - 0.35 max. 60.0-63.0
C43500 Tin Brass Balance. 0.10 max. 0.6-1.2 0.05 max. 79.0-83.0
C46400 Naval Brass Balance. 0.20 max. 0.5-1.0 0.10 max. 59.0-62.0

Properties of some wrought brasses

Related internal links
wrought_brasses.txt · Last modified: 2023/12/13 by dmitri_kopeliovich
Promote in SubsTech       Creative Commons License Except where otherwise noted, this work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 License