Thanks to state-of-the-art casting technology, extensive application expertise and PIAD’s diverse materials portfolio, the highest requirements in terms of electrical conductivity, hardness, strength, corrosion resistance and wear resistance of cast components can be fulfilled.
Our alloys are lead-free and comply with the requirements of REACH and RoHS. Depending on the field of application, we offer alloys approved for drinking water applications, for food processing, as well as for applications in the field of hydrogen.
For a casting-oriented approach, PIAD distinguishes between two different material categories, each characterized by specific properties: conductive materials and structural materials. Depending on their properties, they are suitable for different requirements. In addition, the alloys can be broadly classified into copper, brass and bronze. For each standardized material, there is a PIAD-internal plant standard. This PIAD plant standard lies within the standardized tolerance range; however, it significantly narrows the tolerance limits of the individual alloying elements and impurity contents compared to the standard. Only in this way can the consistently high PIAD casting quality be ensured. This is where we clearly differentiate ourselves from competitors who, without internal plant standards, utilize the wider tolerance ranges permitted by the standard for casting.
Copper: An ideal material for electrical engineering.
In electrical engineering, copper is widely used due to its excellent electrical conductivity – as wire, sheet, strip and profiles, or as a machined component. For a long time, corresponding molded parts were produced using sand casting, even though this process has significant disadvantages for electrical engineering applications: the cast materials suffer a considerable loss of conductivity, and sand molds can only be used once.
This provided sufficient reason to replace sand casting with chill casting. After decades of development, this process is now so advanced that it can be applied to the entire range of copper alloys. The particular specialty: in chill casting, copper can be cast without deoxidizing elements. A conductivity of at least 55 m/mm² Ω is guaranteed.
In copper chill casting, the melting process is controlled in such a way that a limited amount of oxygen can remain present in the form of copper oxide (Cu₂O). Copper and copper oxide form a eutectic, which can be clearly identified by means of metallographic analysis. This allows the oxygen content in the melt to be estimated and precisely adjusted. The result: with electrolytic copper, conductivity values of up to 58.0 m/mm² Ω can be achieved.
As chill casting does not diminish the beneficial properties of the copper material, pure copper Cu-C-GM in accordance with EN 1982, in particular, is widely used as a highly conductive material in the electrical industry. After all, copper transmits electrical currents with extremely low resistance. Owing to its equally high thermal conductivity, it is also ideally suited for heat exchangers and cooling elements.
The copper-chromium alloy CuCr1-C-GM in accordance with EN 1982 is characterized by high electrical conductivity combined with increased strength and hardness. This alloy, with chromium contents between 0.4% and 1.2%, can be hardened by solution annealing and quenching at temperatures of around 550 °C, resulting in significantly increased strength and hardness.
The application range of the copper-chromium alloy is very similar to that of pure copper, as its electrical conductivity exceeds 80% of that of pure copper. However, due to its higher hardness, the alloy’s wear and abrasion resistance are improved many times over, as is its resistance to deformation. As a result, the CuCr1-C-GM material is almost universally applicable in switchgear construction. Incidentally, the yield strength of the copper-chromium alloy is even six times higher than that of pure cast copper.
Material Overview: Copper C
| PIAD-Werksnorm | DIN EN 1982 | Alternative Bezeichnung | Spezifikationen |
|---|---|---|---|
| C 0110 | Cu-C | CC040A | |
| C 0210 | CuCr1-C | CC140C |
Brass: A material with good strength properties.
The group of brass materials is formed by alloying pure copper with zinc. Special brasses contain additional alloying elements. Contrary to the widespread assumption that brass can only meet low strength requirements, this group of alloys is used for structural components with medium to high strength. Strength levels range from approximately 380 N/mm² up to 750 N/mm² in special brasses containing aluminum, manganese or iron.
In addition, brass is very well suited for casting and is therefore ideal for complex molded components. It also offers good corrosion resistance. The special brass silicon tombac exhibits very good strength, hardness and elongation properties and can be cast extremely economically.
Brass and special brasses are used in almost all sectors of the capital goods industry and in mechanical engineering, for example as housings, levers, latches, gearbox components and shift forks. In addition, brass materials are particularly well suited for components with cast-in gearing, such as spur gears and bevel gears.
Material Overview: Brass (M = Standard Brass, S = Special Brass)
| PIAD-Werksnorm | DIN EN 1982 | Alternative Bezeichnung | Spezifikationen |
|---|---|---|---|
| M 0100 | CuZn38Al-C | CC767S | |
| S 0100 | CuZn37Al1-C | CC766S | |
| S 0300 | CuZn34Mn3AL2Fe1-C | CC764S | |
| S 0340 | CuZn35Mn2AL1Fe1-C | CC765S | |
| S 0350 | CuZn25AL5Mn4Fe3-C | CC762S | |
| S 0600 | CuZn16Si4-C | CC761S |
Bronze: This material is wear-resistant and corrosion-resistant.
The strength of copper-aluminum alloys, better known as aluminum bronzes, starts at around 500 N/mm² and can be increased to well above 750 N/mm². In terms of wear resistance, copper-aluminum alloys achieve values significantly higher than those of structural steels and are therefore primarily used in general mechanical engineering, vehicle construction, electric motor manufacturing, precision engineering, medical technology, as well as in packaging, printing and textile machinery. In addition, copper-aluminum alloys offer another material property that is particularly important for designers: due to the very favorable combination of strength and elongation, energy can be absorbed under extreme loads without the component failing. This property is retained even at very low temperatures; no significant embrittlement occurs down to –200 °C. Increasing aluminum contents lead to higher strength and hardness values, although elongation decreases accordingly. By alloying with iron and manganese, strength values can be increased even further. At the same time, this group of materials offers excellent corrosion resistance to mildly acidic to weakly alkaline salt solutions and industrial wastewater. The addition of nickel can further enhance the already high corrosion resistance.
Copper-aluminum alloys exhibit another positive characteristic that may be of particular interest to designers: this group of materials can be welded both among themselves and even with steel. The joining welding of aluminum bronze castings with external components made, for example, of S235JR, free-cutting steel or chromium-nickel steel is preferably used for cast components that must be permanently connected to significantly larger and more cumbersome parts. In this context, the TIG welding process is particularly advantageous, as welding is carried out under an inert atmosphere. Appropriate control of the welding arc allows the differing melting points of steel and aluminum bronze to be taken into account. In line with their high-temperature strength, copper-aluminum alloys can be used at temperatures of up to 300 °C, and their resistance to high-temperature oxidation is also more than convincing—significant scaling is only observed at temperatures above 800 °C.
Material Overview: Bronze (B = Tin Bronze, A = Aluminum Bronze)
| PIAD-Werksnorm | DIN EN 1982 | Alternative Bezeichnung | Spezifikationen |
|---|---|---|---|
| B 0100 | CuSn10-C | CC480K | |
| B 0120 | CuSn12-C | CC483K | |
| A 0100 | CuAl9 -C | CC330G | |
| A 0110 | CuAl10Fe2-C | CC331G | |
| A 0200 | CuAl11Fe6Ni6-C | CC334G | |
| A 0210 | CuAl10Fe5Ni5-C | CC333G | |
| A 0220 | CuAl10Ni3Fe2-C | CC332G |
PIAD-Eigenentwicklung
Presented separately below are PIAD-developed, non-standardized materials. These materials are used for demanding special applications.
Conductive brasses are used where higher mechanical strength is required while maintaining good electrical and thermal conductivity.
Material Overview: PIAD In-House Development
| PIAD-Werksnorm | DIN EN 1982 | Alternative Bezeichnung | Spezifikationen |
|---|---|---|---|
| S 0120 | nicht genormt | Leitmessing | |
| S 0121 | nicht genormt | Leitmessing | |
| S 0200 | nicht genormt | Leitmessing | |
| S 0700 | nicht genormt | Neusilber | |
| C 0300 | nicht genormt | ähnlich CuNi2Si-C | |
| C 0310 | nicht genormt | ähnlich CuNi3Si-C | |
| B 0121 | nicht genormt | Ähnlich CuSn12Ni2-C | |
| B 0125 | nicht genormt | ähnlich CuSn12 (Lagerbronze) | |
| B 0140 | nicht genormt | ähnlich CuSn14-C (Lagerbronze) |