Metals and alloys, notes

Notes on metals and alloys

Iron:Its useful substance, its less brittle than Stone, and stronger compared to metals such as wood or copper. Iron can also handle high temperatures. The only problem its can rust very easy, along with Steel too.

Mild Steel: Very strong, having a high density(Meaning very heavy), Its used for construction, Transportation and packaging. It rusts very easily and quickly and must be protected be protected by paintings, galvanizing , or other coatings.

Alloy Steels: High density, rust very easily must be protected by paintings or other coatings.

Stainless steel: High density, 25% of it is made out of Nickel and  Chromium, giving it a corrosive resistance, it is strong, and stiff, Easy to shape too. Does not need a Galvanizing coating.

Cast Iron: Cast Iron is re-melting Pig-iron along with Substaiuntial of scrap steel, Scrap iron, Cast Iron is a cheap metal, Having Moderate strengths, Cast iron have high density but poor toughness, But there strength and toughness can be improved by Alloying and heat treatment.

Copper: Its an expensive metal, It has a high electrical conductivity(good for electrical wiring), and having a good corrosive resistance. It has a low strength But its strength can be improved by alloying with tin(Makes Bronze), or with Zinc(which makes brass). or Nickle(Which makes coins).

Brass: It has a much better strength than copper, and still have a corrosive resistance it can be used for bullets

Nickle:Nickle alloys are dense, stiff strong alloys Primarily used for there strength and corrosive resistance at high temperatures(Jet Engines).Nickle has a moderate strength like iron, and if alloyed with Copper it would make coin.

Titanium alloys: Titanium has a low density but stiff, and strong and are expensive, "Pure" titanium has moderate strength the standard Titanium has 6% aluminum and 4% vanadium. Titanium is a reactive metal when hot and having a good corrosive resistance at room temperatures. Its difficult to cast and is usually cast.

Magnesium alloys: Magnesium alloys have the lowest density with good stiffness and strength relatively towards there weight, Pure magnesium is alloyed to improve its strength and it has a very low melting point. Most alloys are cast since it has a very low formability ,Magnesium is a reactive metal which burns intensely so it needs to be carefully handled while casting.

Zinc Alloys: Zinc Alloys has a very low density, and a low melting point, Zinc is very resistant to corrosive. Its used to protect steels from rusting by Galvanizing. Its easy to cast

  Galvanizing:coat (iron or steel) with a protective layer of zinc.
Low melting point: means a metal requires less heat to melt it, High melting point would mean that it requires more heat to melt it

Tensile strength: is a measurement of the force required to pull something such as rope, wire, or a structural beam to the point where it breaks. The tensile strength of a material is the maximum amount of tensile stress that it can take before failure, for example breaking.

Lead: Lead alloys are very dense, with a very low stiffness and strength than all metals. They are used for there weight or corrosive resistance.

Gold: Its used for jewelry, it has a high electrical conductivity and it has a corrosive resistance


Alumina : it is a ionic ceramic mainly used for its electrical insulation (Spark Plugs) or for its hardness(Cutting tools), Like all ceramics, Alumina is hard and strong in compression, But has a low toughness and tensile strength. It has a corrosive resistance, Low density , resistant to high temperatures, and a high electrical resistance.

Silicon Carbide : It is used for its hardness(cutting tools) or its electrical purposes =, it is hard and strong like all other ceramics but has a low tensile strength and toughness. due to its high melting point it can only be processed by powder form, it has a electrical resistance, Corrosive resistance, Low density, resistance to High temperatures, and a high hardness.

Silicon: its used to manufacture computer chips, its only strength is semi-conductive properties

Diamond: Diamond has the highest hardness out of all materials,But it has a low tensile strength, and toughness. It is also difficult to shape due to its high melting point, but it has a corrosive resistance, Electrical resistance, Low density, and its mainly used for cutting tools.

Zirconia: Like all ceramics Zirconia intrinsically hard, and strong compared to other classes it has low toughness mixing Zirconia with small amounts of Magnesium gives a ceramic alloy, which has good fracture resistance and tensile strength for a ceramic material. It has an excellent corrosive resistance, Low density, resistant to high temperatures, and a high electrical resistance but it has a low tensile strength, its difficult to shape, and a low toughness(Not recommended to be used for cutting tools).