Alloy

An alloy is a partial or complete solid solution of one or more elements in

Theory
Alloying a metal with one or more other metals or non-metals often
enhances its properties. For example, steel is stronger than iron, its primary
element. The physical properties, such as density, reactivity, Young's
modulus, and electrical and thermal conductivity, of an alloy may not differ
greatly from those of its elements, but engineering properties such
as tensile strength[1] and shear strength may be substantially different from
those of the constituent materials. This is sometimes due to the sizes of
the atoms in the alloy, since larger atoms exert a compressive force on
neighboring atoms, and smaller atoms exert a tensile force on their
neighbors, helping the alloy resist deformation. Sometimes alloys may
exhibit marked differences in behavior even when small amounts of one
element occur. For example, impurities in semi-
conducting ferromagnetic alloys lead to different properties, as first
predicted by White, Hogan, Suhl, Tian Abrie and Nakamura.[2][3] Some
alloys are made by melting and mixing two or more metals. Bronze, an
alloy of copper and tin, was the first alloy discovered, during
the prehistoric period now known as the bronze age; it was harder than
pure copper and originally used to make tools and weapons, but was later
superseded by metals and alloys with better properties. In later times
bronze has been used for ornaments, bells, statues, and bearings. Brass is
an alloy made from copper and zinc.
Unlike pure metals, most alloys do not have a single melting point, but a
melting range in which the material is a mixture of solid and liquid phases.
The temperature at which melting begins is called the solidus, and the
temperature when melting is just complete is called the liquidus. However,
for most alloys there is a particular proportion of constituents (in rare cases
two)—the eutectic mixture—which gives the alloy a unique melting point.
Terminology
The term alloy is used to describe a mixture of atoms in which the primary
constituent is a metal. The primary metal is called the base. If there is a
mixture of only two types of atoms, not counting impurities, such as
a copper-nickel alloy, then it is called a binary alloy. If there are three
different types of atoms forming the mixture, such as iron, nickel and
chromium, then it is called a ternary alloy. An alloy with four constituents is
a quaternary alloy, while a five part alloy is termed a quinary alloy. Since
the percentage of each constituent can be varied, with any mixture the
entire range of possible variations is called a system. In this respect, all of
the various forms of an alloy containing only two constituents, like iron and
carbon, is called a binary system, while all of the different alloy
combinations possible with a ternary alloy, such as alloys of iron, carbon
and chromium, is called a ternary system.[4]
When a molten metal is mixed with another substance, there are two
different mechanisms that can cause an alloy to form, called atom
exchange and the interstitial mechanism. The relative size of each atom in
the mix plays a primary role in determining which mechanism will occur.
When the atoms are relatively similar in size, the atom exchange method
usually happens, where some of the atoms composing the metallic crystals
are replaced with atoms of the other constituent. With the interstitial
mechanism, one atom is usually much smaller than the other, and so
cannot successfully replace an atom in the crystals of the base metal. The
smaller atoms become trapped in the spaces between the atoms in the
crystal matrix, called the interstices.[5]
Alloys are often made in order to alter the mechanical properties of the
base metal, to induce hardness, toughness, ductility, or other desired
properties. While most metals and alloys can be work hardened by
inducing defects in their crystal structure, caused by plastic deformation,
some alloys can also have their properties altered by heat treatment.
Nearly all metals can be softened by annealing, which repairs the crystal
defects, but not as many can be hardened by controlled heating and
cooling. Many alloys of aluminum, copper, magnesium,titanium,
and nickel can be strengthened to some degree by some method of heat
treatment, but few respond to this to the same degree that steel does.[5]
At a certain temperature, the base metal of steel, iron, undergoes a change
in the arrangement of the atoms in its crystal matrix, called allotropy. This
allows the small carbon atoms to enter the interstices of the crystal. When
this happens, the carbon atoms are said to be in solution, or mixed with the
iron. If the iron is cooled slowly, the carbon atoms will be forced out of
solution, into the spaces between the crystals. If the steel is cooled quickly,
the carbon atoms become trapped in solution, causing the iron crystals to
deform when the crystal structure tries to change to its low temperature
state, inducing great hardness.[5]
In practice, some alloys are used so predominantly with respect to their
base metals that the name of the primary constituent is also used as the
name of the alloy. For example, 14karat gold is an alloy of gold with other
elements. Similarly, the silver used in jewelry and the aluminium used as a
structural building material are also alloys.
The term "alloy" is sometimes used in everyday speech as a synonym for a
particular alloy. For example, automobile wheels made of an aluminium
alloy are commonly referred to as simply "alloy wheels", although in point of
fact steels and most other metals in practical use are also alloys.
History
The use of alloys by humans started with the use of meteoric iron, a
naturally occurring alloy of nickel and iron. As no metallurgic processes
were used to separate iron from nickel, the alloy was used as it was.
[6]
 Meteoric iron could be forged from a red heat to make objects such as
tools, weapons, and nails. In many cultures it was shaped by cold
hammering into knives and arrowheads. They were often used as anvils.
Meteoric iron was very rare and valuable, and difficult for ancient people to
work.[7]
Iron is usually found as iron ore on Earth, except for one deposit of native
iron in Greenland, which was used by the Inuit people. Native copper,
however, was found worldwide, along with silver, gold and platinum, which
were also used to make tools, jewelry, and other objects since Neolithic
times. Copper was the hardest of these metals, and the most widely
distributed. It became one of the most important metals to the ancients.
Eventually, humans learned to smelt metals such as copper
and tin from ore, and, around 2500 BC, began alloying the two metals to
form bronze, which is much harder than its ingredients. Tin was rare,
however, being found mostly in Great Britain. In the Middle East, people
began alloying copper with zinc to form brass.[8] Ancient civilizations made
use of the information contained in modern alloy constitution diagrams,
taking into account the mixture and the various properties it produced, such
as hardness, toughness and melting point, under various conditions
of temperature and work hardening.[9]
The first known smelting of iron began in Anatolia, around 1800 BC Called
the bloomery process, it produced very soft but ductile wrought ironand, by
800 BC, the technology had spread to Europe. Pig iron, a very hard but
brittle alloy of iron and carbon, was being produced in China as early as
1200 BC, but did not arrive in Europe until the Middle Ages. These metals
found little practical use until the introduction of crucible steel around 300
BC. These steels were of poor quality, and the introduction of pattern
welding, around the 1st century AD, sought to balance the extreme
properties of the alloys by laminating them, to create a tougher metal.[10]
Mercury had been smelted from cinnabar for thousands of years. Mercury
dissolves many metals, such as gold, silver, and tin, to formamalgams, (an
alloy in a soft paste, or liquid form at ambient temperature). Amalgams
have been used since 200 BC in China for plating objects with precious
metals, called gilding, such as armor and mirrors. The ancient Romans
often used mercury-tin amalgams for gilding their armor. The amalgam was
applied as a paste and then heated until the mercury vaporized, leaving the
gold, silver, or tin behind.[11] Mercury was often used in mining, to extract
precious metals like gold and silver from their ores.[12]
Many ancient civilizations alloyed metals for purely aesthetic purposes. In
ancient Egypt and Mycenae, gold was often alloyed with copper to produce
red-gold, or iron to produce a bright burgundy-gold. Silver was often found
alloyed with gold. These metals were also used to strengthen each other,
for more practical purposes. Quite often, precious metals were alloyed with
less valuable substances as a means to deceive buyers.[13] Around 250
BC, Archimedes was commissioned by the king to find a way to check the
purity of the gold in a crown, leading to the famous bath-house shouting of
"Eureka!" upon the discovery of Archimedes principle.[14]
While the use of iron started to become more widespread around 1200 BC,
mainly due to interruptions in the trade routes for tin, the metal is much
softer than bronze. However, very small amounts of steel, (an alloy of iron
and around 1% carbon), was always a byproduct of the bloomery process.
The ability to modify the hardness of steel by heat treatment had been
known since 1100 BC, and the rare material was valued for use in tool and
weapon making. Since the ancients could not produce temperatures high
enough to fully melt iron, the production of steel in decent quantities did not
 occur until the introduction of blister steel during the Middle Ages. This
method introduced carbon by heating wrought iron in charcoal for long
periods of time, but the penetration of carbon was not very deep, so the
alloy was not very homogenous. In 1740, Benjamin Huntsman began
melting blister steel in a crucible to even out the carbon content, creating
the first process for the mass production of tool steel. Huntsman's process
was used for manufacturing tool steel until the early 1900s.[15]
With the introduction of the blast furnace to Europe in the Middle Ages, pig
iron was able to be produced in much higher volumes than wrought iron.
Since pig iron could be melted, people began to develop processes of
reducing the carbon in the liquid pig iron in order to create
steel. Puddling was introduced during the 1700s, where molten pig iron
was stirred while exposed to the air, to remove the carbon by oxidation. In
1858, Sir Henry Bessemer developed a process of steel making by blowing
hot air through liquid pig iron to reduce the carbon content. The Bessemer
process was able to produce the first large scale manufacture of steel.
[15]
 Once the Bessemer process began to gain widespread use, other alloys
of steel began to follow, such as mangalloy, an alloy of steel
and manganese, which exhibits extreme hardness and toughness.[
List of alloys
This is a complete list of named alloys grouped alphabetically by
base metal. Within these headings the alloys are also grouped
alphabetically. Some of the main alloying elements are optionally listed
after the alloy names.

  Alloys of aluminium
  Alloys of bismuth
  Alloys of cobalt
  Alloys of copper
  Alloys of gallium
  Alloys of gold
  Alloys of indium
  Alloys of iron
  Alloys of lead
  Alloys of magnesium
  Alloys of mercury
  Alloys of nickel
  Alloys of potassium
  Alloys of plutonium
  Rare earth alloys
  Alloys of Rhodium
  Alloys of silver
  Alloys of titanium
  Alloys of tin
  Alloys of uranium
  Alloys of zinc
 Alloys of zirconium
Alloys of aluminium

 AA-8000: used for building wire in the U.S. per the National Electrical
Code
 Aluminium also forms complex metallic alloys, like β-Al-Mg, ξ'-Al-Pd-
Mn, T-Al3Mn
 Al-Li (lithium)
 Alnico (aluminium, nickel, cobalt): used for permanent magnets
 Duralumin (copper)
 Magnalium (5% magnesium)/used in airplane bodies, ladders,etc.
 Nambe (aluminium plus seven other undisclosed metals)

Alloys of bismuth

 Cerrosafe (lead, tin, cadmium)
 Rose metal (lead, tin)
 Wood's metal (lead, tin, cadmium)
Alloys of cobalt

 Megallium
 Stellite (chromium, tungsten, carbon)
 Talonite
 Ultimet (chromium, nickel, molybdenum, iron, tungsten)
 Vitallium
Alloys of copper

 Arsenical copper
 Beryllium copper (beryllium)
 Billon (silver)
 Brass (zinc)
 Calamine brass (zinc)
 Chinese silver (zinc)
 Dutch metal (zinc)
 Gilding metal (zinc)
 Muntz metal (zinc)
 Pinchbeck (zinc)
 Prince's metal (zinc)
 Tombac (zinc)
 Bronze (tin, aluminium or any other element)
 Aluminium bronze (aluminium)
 Arsenical bronze
 Bell metal (tin)
 Florentine bronze (aluminium or tin)
 Guanín
 Gunmetal (tin, zinc)
 Glucydur
 Phosphor bronze (tin and phosphorus)
 Ormolu (Gilt Bronze) (zinc)
 Speculum metal (tin)
 Constantan (nickel)
 Copper-tungsten (tungsten)
 Corinthian bronze (gold, silver)
 Cunife (nickel, iron)
 Cupronickel (nickel)
 Cymbal alloys (Bell metal) (tin)
 Devarda's alloy (aluminium, zinc)
 Electrum (gold, silver)
 Hepatizon (gold, silver)
 Heusler alloy (manganese, tin)
 Manganin (manganese, nickel)
 Molybdochalkos (lead)
 Nickel silver (nickel)
 Nordic gold (aluminium, zinc, tin)
 Shakudo (gold)
 Tumbaga (gold)
Alloys of gold
The purity of alloys of gold is expressed in karats, which tell you the ratio of
the minimum amount of gold (by mass) over 24 parts total. 24 karat gold
is fine gold (24/24 parts), and the engineering standard is that it be applied
to alloys that have been refined to 99.9% or better purity ("3 Nines Fine").
There are, however, places in the world that allow the claim of 24kt. to
alloys with as little as 99.0% gold ("2 Nines Fine" or "Point Nine-nine Fine).
An alloy which is 14 parts gold to 10 parts alloy is 14 karat gold, 18 parts
gold to 6 parts alloy is 18 karat, etc. This is becoming more commonly and
accurately expressed as the result of the ratio, ie: 14/24 equals .585
(rounded off), and 18/24 is .750 ("Seven-fifty Fine").
There are hundreds of possible alloys and mixtures possible, but in general
the addition of silver will color gold green, and the addition of copper will
color it red. A mix of around 50/50 copper and silver gives the range of
yellow gold alloys the public is accustomed to seeing in the marketplace.

 Electrum (silver, copper)
 Rose gold (copper)
 Tumbaga (copper)
 White gold (nickel, palladium)