Experimental analysis of microstructure and mechanical properties of copper and brass based alloys

Abstract

The significant demand for copper and brass in industrial applications, the automotive industry and building industry is increasing; this requires the improvement of their mechanical properties by the addition of suitable alloying elements. The objective of this research is to study the effect of adding various alloys to copper and brass and their effects on their tensile strength, hardness and microstructure. The mechanical properties of two copper alloys and two brass alloys have been characterized in terms of tensile strength, impact strength and Rockwell hardness. The mechanical properties and microstructure of annealed specimens of Cu and brass alloys were observed. The results showed that by increasing the addition of alloys, the tensile strength also increases for both cases. The microstructure of the fracture surface after tensile testing has been examined using an inverted microscope. The experimental result shows that after the annealing at two temperatures of specimens of two copper alloys and two brass alloys, E-Cu shows more ductility than pure copper and C38500 brass alloy shows more ductility, yield strength and tensile strength than brass type 1.