Everything about Alloy totally explained
An
alloy is a
solid solution or homogeneous mixture of two or more
elements, at least one of which is a
metal, which itself has
metallic properties. It usually has different properties from those of its component elements.
Alloying one metal with others often enhances its properties.
For instance,
steel is stronger than
iron, its primary element. The physical properties, such as
density,
reactivity,
Young's modulus, and
electrical and
thermal conductivity, of an alloy may not differ greatly from those of its elements, but engineering properties, such as
tensile strength and
shear strength may be substantially different from those of the constituent materials. This is sometimes due to the sizes of the
atoms in the alloy, since larger atoms exert a compressive force on neighboring atoms, and smaller atoms exert a tensile force on their neighbors, helping the alloy resist deformation. Alloys may exhibit marked differences in behavior even when small amounts of one element occur. For example, impurities in semi-conducting
ferromagnetic alloys lead to different properties, as first predicted by White, Hogan, Suhl, Tian Abrie and Nakamura.
Some alloys are made by melting and mixing two or more metals.
Brass is an alloy made from copper and zinc.
Bronze, used for statues, ornaments and church bells, is an alloy of tin and copper.
Unlike pure metals, most alloys don't have a single
melting point. Instead, they've a melting range in which the material is a mixture of
solid and
liquid phases. The temperature at which melting begins is called the
solidus and the temperature when melting is complete is called the
liquidus. However, for most alloys there's a particular proportion of constituents which give them a single melting point or (rarely) two. This is called the alloy's
eutectic mixture.
Classification
Alloys can be classified by the number of their constituents. An alloy with two components is called a
binary alloy; one with three is a
ternary alloy, and so forth. Alloys can be further classified as either
substitution alloys or
interstitial alloys, depending on their method of formation. In substitution alloys, the atoms of the components are approximately the same size and the various atoms are simply substituted for one another in the crystal structure. An example of a (binary) substitution alloy is
brass, made up of
copper and
zinc. Interstitial alloys occur when the atoms of one component are substantially smaller than the other and the smaller atoms fit into the spaces (interstices) between the larger atoms.
Terminology
In practice, some alloys are used so predominantly with respect to their base metals that the name of the primary constituent is also used as the name of the alloy. For example, 14
carat gold is an alloy of gold with other elements. Similarly, the
silver used in
jewelry and the
aluminium used as a structural building material are also alloys.
The term "alloy" is sometime used in everyday speech as a synonym for a particular alloy. For example, automobile wheels made of
aluminium alloy are commonly referred to as simply "alloy wheels". The usage is obviously indefinite, since steels and most other metals in practical use are also alloys.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Alloy'.
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