Copper Industry Information
IQS Newsroom Articles on Copper
About Copper and Copper Suppliers Including: Brass, Bronze, Copper
Pipe, Copper Sheet & Copper
Strip.
Copper is one of only a few metals that are found abundantly
in nature. For over 10,000 years, copper has been supplied to humans
for a multitude of purposes, because it is easy to mine and refine and
has many excellent properties. Copper is a malleable and ductile metal,
very soft in its pure state, and is also the best known economical conductor
of electricity. It is nonmagnetic, machinable, formable and durable.
Additional properties, such as hardness, can be reached by adding alloying
elements. Copper has very good alloying characteristics. The two main
types of copper alloys are copper primary alloys, which include brass
and bronzes, and copper-bearing alloys, which contain only small amounts
of copper, as in aluminum
alloys and steels. The two most common copper
alloys are brass and bronze, made from primarily copper and zinc and
copper and tin respectively.
Other copper alloys include copper-silver and copper-nickel.
Copper can be formed into many shapes for further manufacturing, such
as strip, sheet, rod, wire, tube, bar, plate and powder. Four types of
copper fabricators exist to create these products. First, powder plants
create copper powder and flake, which can be used for such products as
powdered
metal parts.
Copper Wire rod mills manufacture cold drawn wire and rod for use in electrical
applications. Casting procedures
are performed at foundries to create numerous products, using ingots
and scrap copper as raw materials. Finally, brass mills use numerous
processes, including hot and
cold rolling,
drawing, forging and extrusion, to create copper and copper alloy products. Because copper
is soft in its pure state and not recommended for building applications,
much of the manufacturing in brass mills is done with copper alloys.
After forming a product, brass mills may also perform secondary operations,
such as bending, stamping, joining or applying protective coatings.
A variety of uses are associated with copper and its alloys. Copper wire
is an excellent, ductile and cost-effective conductor of electricity,
and thus is used in many electrical applications. Copper is also a good
conductor of heat in such products as heat
exchangers and pressure
vessels.
Air conditioning and refrigeration systems often have copper tubing,
which is not only able to transfer water but oil and chemicals as well.
Because of its versatile properties, one of the most common materials
used by copper suppliers for bearings is bronze. With the addition of lead, bronze bearings provide
a lubricated, low friction surface. Copper, as a nonsparking metal, performs
well in springs and
tools. High-strength copper alloys make up components in the construction
of airplanes, automobiles, subway cars, trains and space shuttles. Other
diverse uses for copper alloys include valves, pumps, architectural fixings,
coins, cooking ware, blades, offshore drilling equipment, roofing and
microchips.
Copper is a sustainable metal for the future, because very little of
the world's supply of copper has been mined. Copper is also one
of the most commonly recycled metals, making copper scrap valuable, as
much of it can be recycled and reused. In fact, almost as much copper
is recycled as is mined every year. Copper is an economic choice for
copper suppliers and many applications because it is typically long lasting
and needs little maintenance. To help copper suppliers products achieve
an even longer life, certain coating processes can protect the metal
surface from weathering and prolong the natural reddish-gold color. Copper
is highly reactive with oxygen and will develop a green patina over time,
especially in areas with extreme environments or pollution. Besides this,
copper will not corrode from contact with any other metal, although it
will cause corrosion in others, especially aluminum and zinc.
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