Common metal materials and their processing techniques

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1. Cast iron – fluidity. As an unremarkable part of our daily environment, sewer covers are rarely noticed by people. Cast iron is used in such large numbers and across a wide range of applications primarily due to its excellent fluidity and its ability to be cast into various complex shapes. Cast iron is actually the name for a mixture of various elements, including carbon, silicon, and iron. The higher the carbon content, the better its flow properties during casting. Carbon appears here in two forms: graphite and iron carbide. The presence of graphite in cast iron gives sewer covers excellent wear resistance. Rust usually appears only on the outermost layer, so it is often polished off. Nevertheless, special measures are taken to prevent rusting during the casting process; namely, an asphalt coating is applied to the surface of the casting, with the asphalt penetrating into the pores in the surface of the cast iron, thereby serving to prevent rust. WeChat account for metal processing – great content, worth following. The traditional process for producing sand mold casting materials is now being used by many designers in other, newer and more interesting fields. A detailed explanation of eight common metal materials and their processing techniques – something every mechanic needs to know! Material properties: excellent flowability, low cost, good wear resistance, low solidification shrinkage rate, very brittle, high compressive strength, good machinability. Typical uses: Cast iron has been in use for hundreds of years and is employed in fields such as construction, bridges, engineering components, household items, and kitchen utensils. 2. Stainless steel – The revolution against rust. Stainless steel is an alloy made by adding chromium, nickel, and other metal elements to steel. Its rust-resistant property stems from the chromium content in the alloy; chromium forms a tough, self-repairing layer of chromium oxide on the surface of the alloy, a layer that is invisible to the naked eye. The typical ratio of stainless steel to nickel that we refer to is 18:10. At the beginning of the 20th century, stainless steel began to be introduced into product design as a valuable material. Designers developed many new products taking advantage of its toughness and corrosion resistance, entering many fields that had not been explored before. All of these design attempts were highly revolutionary: for example, devices that could be reused after disinfection appeared for the first time in the medical industry. Stainless steel is divided into four main types: austenitic, ferritic, ferritico-austenitic (composite), and martensitic. The stainless steel used in household items is basically austenitic. A detailed explanation of eight common metal materials and their processing techniques – something every mechanic needs to know! Material properties: suitable for healthcare applications, corrosion-resistant, capable of undergoing precise surface treatment, high in rigidity, can be shaped using various processing techniques, difficult to work with through cold processing. Typical uses: Austenitic stainless steel is primarily used in household items, industrial pipes, and building structures; martensitic stainless steel is mainly used for manufacturing knives and turbine blades; ferritic stainless steel possesses corrosion resistance and is used in washers designed for long-term use as well as in boiler components; composite stainless steel has enhanced corrosion resistance, which is why it is often used in corrosive environments. 3. Zinc – 730 pounds throughout a lifetime. Zinc has a silverish sheen with a slight blue-gray tint; it is the third most widely used non-ferrous metal after aluminum and copper. A statistic from the U.S. Geological Survey shows that an average person consumes a total of 331 kilograms of zinc over the course of their lifetime. Zinc has a very low melting point, so it is also an excellent material for casting. Zinc castings are very common in our daily lives: they are used as the material underlying door handles and faucet surfaces, as well as in electronic components. Zinc possesses extremely high corrosion resistance, and this property endows it with another essential function – that of serving as a coating material for steel surfaces. In addition to these functions, zinc is also an alloying element used together with copper to form brass. Its corrosion resistance is not only applied to steel surface coatings – it also helps strengthen our human immune system. A detailed explanation of eight common metal materials and their processing techniques – something every mechanic needs to know! Material properties: suitable for healthcare applications, corrosion-resistant, excellent castability, outstanding corrosion resistance, high strength, high hardness, low cost of raw materials, low melting point, creep resistance, easy to form alloys with other metals, health-promoting properties, fragile at room temperature, ductile at around 100 degrees Celsius. Typical use: Electronic components. Zinc is one of the alloying materials used to form bronze. Zinc also has cleaning and hygiene properties as well as corrosion resistance. Additionally, zinc is also used in roofing materials, photo engraving discs, mobile phone antennas, and the shutter mechanisms in cameras. 4. Aluminum (AL) – A modern material. Compared to gold, which has been in use for 9,000 years, aluminum, this white metal with a slight blue tint, can truly be considered a newcomer among metallic materials. Aluminum was introduced and named in the early 18th century. Unlike other metal elements, aluminum does not exist in nature in its pure metallic form; it is extracted from bauxite, which contains 50% alumina (also known as alum). Aluminum, which exists in minerals in this form, is also one of the most abundant metal elements on our Earth. When aluminum first appeared as a metal, it was not immediately put to use in people’s lives. Later on, a range of new products featuring its unique functions and properties were introduced, and this high-tech material gradually gained an increasingly broad market. Although aluminum has a relatively short history of use, the production volume of aluminum products in the market today far exceeds that of all other non-ferrous metal products combined. A detailed explanation of eight common metal materials and their processing techniques – something every mechanic needs to know! Material properties: flexible and malleable, easy to alloy, high strength-to-weight ratio, excellent corrosion resistance, good electrical and thermal conductivity, recyclable. Typical uses: vehicle frames, aircraft components, kitchen utensils, packaging, and furniture. Aluminum is also frequently used to reinforce certain large-scale architectural structures. For instance, aluminum reinforcement materials have been utilized in the statue of Eros on Piccadilly Circus in London, as well as at the top of the Chrysler Building in New York. 5. Magnesium alloys – ultra-thin aesthetic design. Magnesium is a highly important non-ferrous metal; it is lighter than aluminum and can form high-strength alloys with other metals. Magnesium alloys possess advantages such as low density, high specific strength and stiffness, good thermal and electrical conductivity, excellent damping and electromagnetic shielding properties, ease of processing and molding, and ease of recycling. However, for a long time, due to high costs and technical limitations, magnesium and its alloys have been used only in small quantities in the aviation, aerospace, and industrial sectors, which is why they are referred to as “noble metals”. Today, magnesium is the third most widely used metal engineering material after steel and aluminum, and it is extensively applied in fields such as aerospace, automotive, electronics, mobile communications, and metallurgy. It can be predicted that, due to the rising production costs of other structural metals, magnesium will become even more important in the future. Sex becomes bigger. Sex becomes bigger. The specific gravity of magnesium alloys is 68% that of aluminum alloys, 27% that of zinc alloys, and 23% that of steel. They are commonly used in automotive parts, casings for 3C products, building materials, etc. Most ultra-thin laptop and phone casings are made of magnesium alloy. Since the last century, humans have maintained an indelible affection for the metallic texture and luster. Although plastic products can achieve a metal-like appearance, their level of gloss, hardness, temperature, and texture still fall short compared to metals. As a new type of metal material, magnesium alloys give off an impression of high-tech products. The corrosion resistance of magnesium alloys is 8 times that of carbon steel, 4 times that of aluminum alloys, and more than 10 times that of plastics. They possess the best anti-corrosion properties among all alloys. Commonly used magnesium alloys are non-flammable; especially when used in automotive and motorcycle parts as well as building materials, they can prevent sudden combustion. Magnesium ranks 8th in terms of reserves in the Earth’s crust, and most of the magnesium raw materials are extracted from seawater, so its resources are stable and abundant. A detailed explanation of eight common metal materials and their processing techniques – something every mechanic needs to know! Material properties: lightweight structure, high rigidity and impact resistance, excellent corrosion resistance, good thermal conductivity and electromagnetic shielding, good non-flammability, poor heat resistance, and easy to recycle. Typical applications: Widely used in aerospace, automotive, electronics, mobile communications, metallurgy, and other fields. 6. Copper – Man’s Companion. Copper is truly an incredible versatile metal, and it is deeply intertwined with our lives. Many of humanity’s early tools and weapons were made of copper. Its Latin name, “cuprum”, originates from a place called Cyprus, an island rich in copper resources. People used the abbreviation Cu of the island’s name to name this metal, and that is how copper acquired its current name. Copper plays a very important role in modern society: it is widely used in building structures as a medium for transmitting electricity. Moreover, for thousands of years, it has been used by people from various cultural backgrounds as a material for creating body ornaments. From its initial role in simple decoding and transmission, to its crucial role in modern, complex communication applications today, this versatile, orange-colored metal has been with us throughout our progress. Copper is an excellent conductor, with electrical conductivity second only to silver. In terms of the history of human use of metal materials, copper is the metal most long-used by humans after gold. This is largely because copper ores are easy to mine, and copper can be relatively easily separated from them. A detailed explanation of eight common metal materials and their processing techniques – something every mechanic needs to know! Material properties: excellent corrosion resistance, outstanding thermal and electrical conductivity, hardness, flexibility, ductility; it achieves a unique appearance after polishing. Typical uses: wires, engine coils, printed circuits, roofing materials, piping materials, heating materials, jewelry, cooking utensils. It is also one of the main alloying elements used in the production of bronze. 7. Chromium – Post-treatment for high gloss. The most common form in which chromium occurs is as an alloying element in stainless steel, used to increase its hardness. The chroming process is generally divided into three types: decorative plating, hard chromium plating, and black chromium plating. Chromium plating is widely used in the engineering field. Decorative chromium plating is usually applied as the outermost layer over a nickel layer, offering a finely polished finish similar to that of a mirror. As a decorative post-treatment process, the thickness of the chromium plating is only 0.006 millimeters. When considering the use of chromium plating, it is essential to fully take into account the dangers associated with this process. Over the past decade, there has been an increasingly clear trend toward replacing hexavalent decorative chromium solutions with trivalent chromium solutions, as the former is highly carcinogenic, whereas the latter is considered to have relatively lower toxicity. A detailed explanation of eight common metal materials and their processing techniques – something every mechanic needs to know! Material properties: very high surface finish, excellent corrosion resistance, hard and durable, easy to clean, low coefficient of friction. Typical uses: Decorative chromium plating is used as a coating material for many automotive components, including door handles and bumpers. In addition, chromium is also applied to bicycle parts, bathroom faucets, as well as furniture, kitchen utensils, and tableware. Hard chromium plating is more commonly used in the industrial sector, including random access memory in control units, components of jet engines, plastic molds, and shock absorbers, among others. Black chrome plating is mainly used for instrument decoration and in solar energy applications. 8. Titanium – Light yet strong. Titanium is a very special metal: it is extremely lightweight, yet at the same time highly durable and resistant to corrosion. It retains its original color for life at normal temperatures. Titanium has a melting point similar to that of platinum, which is why it is often used in aerospace and military precision components. With the addition of current and chemical treatment, different colors are produced. Titanium boasts excellent resistance to acid and alkali corrosion; titanium that has been immersed in aqua regia for several years remains shiny and bright. If titanium is added to stainless steel, even in an amount of about one percent, it **improves its resistance to rust. Titanium possesses excellent properties such as low density, high temperature resistance, and corrosion resistance. The density of titanium alloys is half that of steel, yet their strength is similar to that of steel; titanium can withstand both high and low temperatures. It maintains high strength over a wide temperature range of -253°C to 500°C. WeChat account for metal processing – great content, worth following. These advantages are exactly what space metals must possess. Titanium alloys are excellent materials for making the casings of rocket engines, as well as artificial satellites and spacecraft; they are known as “space metals”. Due to these advantages of titanium, it has since the 1950s become a prominent rare metal. Titanium is a pure metal; it is precisely because of its purity that no chemical reaction occurs when materials come into contact with it. In other words, due to titanium’s high corrosion resistance and stability, its properties remain unchanged even after long-term contact with humans, so it does not cause allergies. It is the only metal that has no effect on the human autonomic nervous system or sense of taste, and it is referred to as a \"biocompatible metal\". The biggest drawback of titanium is that it is difficult to extract. This is mainly because titanium can combine with oxygen, carbon, nitrogen, and many other elements at high temperatures. Therefore, titanium was once regarded as a “rare metal”. In reality, titanium makes up about 6‰ of the Earth’s crust by weight—that is, more than ten times the combined amount of copper, tin, manganese, and zinc. A detailed explanation of eight common metal materials and their processing techniques – something every mechanic needs to know! Material properties: very high strength, excellent corrosion resistance per unit weight, difficulty in cold working, good weldability, about 40% lighter than steel and 60% heavier than aluminum, low electrical conductivity, low thermal expansion coefficient, and a high melting point. Typical applications: golf clubs, tennis rackets, laptops, cameras, suitcases, surgical implants, aircraft frames, chemical equipment, and marine equipment, among others. Additionally, titanium is also used as a white pigment required for paper, painting, and plastics.