Metal Glossary

Designed to be a quick reference guide for customers, the Cashmores glossary provides definitions of the latest metal industry terms.

Metal Glossary

Designed to be a quick reference guide for customers, the Cashmores glossary provides definitions of the latest metal industry terms.

1 2

Heat Treatment of Copper and its Alloys
A range of heat treatment processes are applied to copper and it alloys including:
- Homogenising
- Annealing
- Stress Relieving
- Solution Treatment and Ageing
- Quench and Temper Hardening
It is important to recognise that not all processes are appropriate for all alloys. Homogenising in which prolonged soaking at elevated temperature is used to reduce solidification chemical segregation in castings particularly in Phosphor Bronzes, Copper Nickels and Silicon Bronzes that have long freezing ranges. Annealing is used to soften and increase ductility and toughness in wrought alloys. Stress relieving is used to relieve internal stresses without significantly affecting mechanical properties. Solution Treatment and Ageing is used on Beryllium Copper, Copper/ Chromium, Copper /Zirconium and Copper/Nickel/Silicon/Chromium alloys to increase mechanical properties. Quench and Temper Hardening is applied to certain Aluminium Bronzes, Nickel Aluminium Bronzes and some cast Manganese Bronzes to increase their mechanical properties.
High Speed Machining
Free Cutting, Free Machining

Terms that are used interchangeably to describe materials that can be turned, drilled or otherwise machined using high cutting speeds and feeds to leave a good surface finish with low tool wear and no appreciable build-up of swarf around the cutting tool. The addition of Lead to Copper alloys usually improves machinability. The brass CW614N (CZ121 Pb3) has one of the fastest rates of metal removal, but ductility is compromised. This brass sets the machinability standard against which the machinability of all other alloys are measured.
High Tensile Brasses

Terms that are used interchangeably to describe materials that can be turned, drilled or otherwise machined using high cutting speeds and feeds to leave a good surface finish with low tool wear and no appreciable build-up of swarf around the cutting tool. The addition of Lead to Copper alloys usually improves machinability. The brass CW614N (CZ121 Pb3) has one of the fastest rates of metal removal, but ductility is compromised. This brass sets the machinability standard against which the machinability of all other alloys are measured.
Hollow, Tube Hollow

Interchangeable terms for a hot finished semi-finished product from either an extrusion or piercing process. They are the feedstock for cold drawing or cold reduced tube production.
Homogenisation

The structure of as cast semi finished products e.g. slab, extrusion billet or forging blanks is invariably chemically segregated - that is the alloying elements are concentrated locally rather than uniformly distributed within the microstructure. Homogenising is a way of mitigating this as the work-piece is held at a suitably high temperature for sufficient time to eliminate, or at least decrease, chemical segregation by diffusion of the alloying elements.
Hot Stamping Brass
Stamping Brass

CW617N / CZ122 Brass formulated to be most suitable for hot stamping.
Hot Working

Plastic deformation, e.g. hot rolling, extrusion or forging, of a work piece in a temperature range and at a rate such that strain hardening does not occur.
Huey Test

A corrosion test for evaluating the inter-granular corrosion resistance of stainless steels by boiling in refluxed 65% nitric acid for five consecutive 48-hour periods, each period starting with fresh acid.

1 2

Metal Glossary

Metal Glossary

Contact Us

Cashmores.com

PRODUCTS & SERVICES

ABOUT US

TECHNICAL DATA

LEGAL