What’s the beryllium copper?

Beryllium is a steel grey, strong, light-weight metal that has one of the highest melting points of the light metals. It has excellent elasticity modulus, thermal conductivity, is nonmagnetic and resists to concentrated nitric acid. Beryllium is primarily used as an alloying agent in the production of beryllium copper and more than 70 percent of the world’s total beryllium is used to produce beryllium copper.

Beryllium copper(BeCu), also known as Beryllium Bronze or Spring Copper, A alloy by adding 0.2~2.75% Beryllium and sometimes other elements in the cooper. Beryllium copper is a precipitated and aged hardened alloy. Its hardness can reach HRC38~43 after solution aging treatment, and electric conductivity is also greatly improved. The beryllium copper has a wide range of applications for where require excellent increased strength, durability, and electrical conductivity such as the molds manufacturing, explosion-proof safety tools, electronic devices and other automotive applications.

The international manufacturers of high quality beryllium copper are Ulba Metallurgical, Brushwellman(now Materion Brush) of the United States and Japan company Hinko (NGK). The general product code in the market is mainly according to ASTM standards, and the alloy material is marked with the letter C. C17000, C17200 and C17300 are the most commonly used beryllium copper materials.

 

 

The widely used relevant American standards about beryllium copper:

ASTM B 194: Specification for copper-beryllium alloy plate, sheet, strip and roll bar;

ASTM B196: Specification for copper-beryllium alloy rod and bar;

ASTM B197: Specification for copper-beryllium alloy wire;

ASTM B 643: Specification for copper-beryllium alloy seamless tube;

ASTM B441: Specification for copper-cobalt-beryllium, copper-nickel-beryllium, and copper-nickel-lead-beryllium rod and bar (UNS no c17500, c17510, and c17465);

ASTM B534: Specification for copper-cobalt-beryllium alloy and copper-nickel-beryllium alloy plate, sheet, strip, and rolled bar.

 

How was beryllium copper alloy was classified?

According to its processing methods, Beryllium copper can be divided into deformation beryllium copper and casting beryllium copper. According to beryllium content and its characteristics, it can be divided into high strength beryllium copper(1.6% ~ 2.0% Beryllium) and high conductivity beryllium copper(0.2% ~ 0.6%Beryllium ). C17000, C17200 and C17300 are high strength family with moderate conductivity, while the C17500 and C17510 offer high conductivity with moderate strength. The corresponding casting beryllium copper includes high-conductivity cast beryllium copper (C82000, C82200) and high cast beryllium copper with Abrasion resistance (C82400, C82500, C82600, C82800).

 

What’s beryllium copper sheet and tubing used for?

Beryllium copper is widely used in the field of aerospace&aviation, electronics, communication, machinery, petroleum, chemical industry, automobile and household appliances. Beryllium copper sheets and tubing are used to make key parts such as film disc, diaphragm, corrugated tube, spring washer, micromotor brush and commutator, electrical connector, switch, contact, watch parts, audio components, advanced bearing, gear, automobile electrical equipment, plastic mold, welding electrode, submarine cable, pressure shell, sparkless tool, etc.

 

Beryllium copper alloy has a similar strength limit, elastic limit, yield limit and fatigue limit as special steel. It has high thermal conductivity, high conductivity, high hardness, high wear resistance, high temperature stability, high creep resistance and corrosion resistance. It also has good casting properties, non – magnetic and no spark in impact. It can be said that BeCu alloy is a perfect alloy with a combination of good physical, chemical and mechanical properties. More details about Beryllium copper alloy, call for us today or email [email protected] to learn more.