Brass Powders & Swarfs

Brass is an alloy made of copper and zinc in various compositions to create different types of Brass. Common compositions offered by Alroko are 57-61% Cu plus 36-40% Zn.

Brass has an anisotropic microstructure and consequently exhibits anisotropic mechanical behavior and increased thermal diffusivity when used in friction materials during the braking. Surface analyses show that the contact area is very effective at trapping third bodies and developing secondary plateaus, which provide good conditions for stabilizing friction to a high degree, even at high temperatures.

Brass may include small proportions of a range of other elements. It is used as a high temperature lubricant and has higher malleability than bronze or zinc. The relatively low melting point of brass (900°C-940°C), depending on composition and its flow characteristics make it a relatively easy material to form. By varying the proportions of copper and zinc, the properties of the Brass can be changed, allowing hard and soft brasses. Aluminium makes Brass stronger and more oxidation-resistant. Aluminium also causes a highly beneficial hard layer of aluminium oxide to be formed on the surface that is thin and self-healing. Alloying e.g. with iron, aluminium, silicon and manganese make Brass more wear resistant. 

Brass Powders offered by Alroko are produced with good control of particle size distribution and with good batch to batch reproducibility. Irregular Brass Powders are produced by water atomization and available in a range of particle sizes. The main applications for atomized Brass Powders are friction materials, sintered metal parts, fillers, cold casting and cold metal sprays.