INGUN test pins... CuBe(copper beryllium) base metal

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teclu

Well-known member
Joined
May 24, 2009
Messages
180
Hello everybody,

I have some kg of Ingun test pins/probes, here are the pictures:
http://i40.tinypic.com/24bu5l2.jpg
http://i40.tinypic.com/vrxqiv.jpg

.......and here are the products specification:
http://www.ingun.com/INGUN/pdf_files/GKS_015_e.pdf
http://www.ingun.com

Why it is so dangerous to disolve CuBe in nitric acid?

Thanks!

teclu
 
glorycloud said:
lol = lots of laughing :lol:


Glorycloud Thanks,

But now another question: what is so funny in berryllium and copper alloys discussion!?
 
Beryllium is a metal associated with health risks, mostly from breathing in dust from manufacturing processes involving Beryllium Copper, the Beryllium enhances the alloy by stiffening it so it is better suited for contact applications where female contacts grip the mating contact and will not bend as easily as a pure copper contact would.
As far as digesting the metal in acid I have never heard of any health effects resulting from the alloy being digested in acid. The residue from classic metal hydroxide waste treatment may pose some risk when the sludge is dried and crushed for sampling, but I have never seen that documented either.
I have never dissolved away the base metal with nitric acid when refining plated contacts, I have stripped the gold in cyanide and processed the cyanide solution for the gold recovery. There is some discussion on the forum about stripping gold plating using sulfuric stripping cells with minimal attack on the copper. I never like to dissolve more base metals than necessary when dealing with plated parts.
 
4metals said:
As far as digesting the metal in acid I have never heard of any health effects resulting from the alloy being digested in acid.


4metals,

Thanks, this is the answer I expected.
 
I'm not a metallurgist, but I am familiar with beryllium copper, and somewhat familiar with its properties. The addition of a small percentage of beryllium allows for copper to be heat treated.

Unlike the carbon cycle, which is common to steel, hardening of copper via the addition of beryllium permits grain growth that hardens the material. It can be worked in the annealed condition, where it is dead soft and easily formed, then given a heat treat process that involves heating and holding at a specific temperature for a specific interval of time. Copper, otherwise, is not readily hardened aside from cold working, which is not always an option.

There are other copper alloys that have desirable properties, many of which are very difficult to machine. Amongst them are aluminum bronze, and manganese bronze.

My experience with beryllium copper comes from making parts for the defense industry, along with making springs for tooling, springs that must not be magnetic, or must be non-sparking

Harold
 
I think Beryllium Copper will not ARC or build up a static charge, thats why it used in Tools that are used in areas were explosive enviroments exist.
not that this is ANY help on this topic, just an observation.
 
It is a non-sparking material that has the ability to be heat treated. It is for that reason it is used for tools. Without the ability to be heat treated, copper alloy tools don't have the required tensile strength to resist deforming under pressure.

Harold
 
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