Lots of people use brass or things that are made from brass without truly understanding what it is. Below are some details about brass that can help you whether you want to buy a new item that is made from brass or make something from brass.

Short Definition

Brass is a general term for different kinds of alloys made from copper and zinc. Alloy refers to a mixture of two metals. The copper-zinc mixtures can differ in various properties such as strength, hardness, ductility, conductivity, malleability, wear-resistance, corrosion-resistance, and even colour resulting to different types of brass.

Top Properties

Brass has set the standard for “machinability.” The other materials are usually judged by comparing them to brass, which come in different forms and sizes. Brass is easy to be processed using machines because of the variety of ways it can be cut and shaped. Additionally, brass do not become brittle even at low temperatures making it better than steel in this sense. Brass is also good in therma-conductivity. Thus, a lot of manufacturers of heat exchanger or radiators prefer it to other materials. Its electrical conductivity is also satisfactory ranging from 23 to 44 per cent of copper’s electrical conductivity.

Great Appearance

Brass comes in a variety of colours. There are red brass, yellow brass, silver brass, gold brass, etc. You can also find a brown brass but this is made up of copper, zinc and manganese. Brass can appear to be bright silver with an addition of nickel. The product of copper, zinc and nickel mixture is usually referred to as nickel silver or special brass. Nickel can take 10 to 20 per cent of the mixture. The corrosion property of a special brass is normally similar to the regular ones but they demonstrate a high level of resistance to cracking and tarnishing. The bright silver colour and the said characteristic make nickel silver a common choice for jewelleries, pins, flutes, ball points, fishing rods, springs and anchor wires.

The flexibility in terms of colour makes brass one of the top options for refurbishing the interior and exterior of buildings. Lots of architects and designers like to use brass for it is easy to find one that will match the colour that they are looking for.

Facts You May Not Know

Brass, which is partly made from copper, can kill some pathogens in contact. This is the main reason why you will find brass in most parts of hospitals where infections such as Clostridium difficile and MRSA can be easily distributed. Brass is a good infection preventer so it is preferred over plastic and steel.

Another fact is that brass is sustainable. Brass can be easily recycled and the brass industries all over the world opt to do so. In fact, many countries like the United Kingdom have a very organized system in recycling brass and other metals. For the past years, the need for brass is sustained by recycling old brass items to create new brass to become parts of many buildings, vehicles, furniture, etc.

bespoke conservatories a rated windows trade windows conservatories leeds

John from http://www.alpinewindowanddoorsystems.co.uk

Author Bio: bespoke conservatories a rated windows trade windows conservatories leeds

Category: Advice
Keywords: