Brass is an alloy which is made from the mixture of copper and zinc. The proportions of zinc and copper may vary as per the requirement of the brass in a particular industry. It is kind of golden colored metal which is used for decorations, casings, valves, bearings, doorknobs, gears, bearings etc. There is a vast industry set up for the brass parts manufacturers.
There are different types of brasses. These are as follows:
Alpha Brasses: This type of brass is made by the composition of 65% of Copper and 35% of Zinc.
Alpha-Beta Brasses: While manufacturing this brass around 55% to 65% of Copper and 35 to 45% of Zinc is used.
Beta Brasses: While manufacturing these brasses around 50% to 55% of copper and 40% to 45% of zinc is used.
Gamma Brasses: While manufacturing these brasses around 33% to 39% of copper and 61 % to 67% zinc is used.
White Brass: For manufacturing, this brass, both the metals are combined equally.
Brass manufacturing Process
- Melting: In this first step, the copper alloy is melted at 1,050°C in the electric furnace. After melting the copper the appropriate amount of zinc is added to the copper alloy. Sometimes a small amount of additional zinc is added to the copper alloy, to compensate for the vaporization of zinc during the melting operation. Then the melted metal is poured into the cuboidal structure to cool and is allowed to solidify into slabs.
- Hot rolling: In the second step, these cakes are placed in a furnace and are heated until reaching a desired temperature. Then these heated cakes are passed through an opposing steel roller so as to reduce the thickness of the brass. During this process, the width of the brass is also increased. Then this brass is cooled down and then passed through a milling machine which is called the scalper. This machine also removes the outer layer that is very thin from the brass as it consists of the oxides that are formed when the metal was exposed to the air.
- Annealing and cold rolling: In this step, the brass is heated to remove some of its hardness and to make it ductile. This process is called annealing. The annealing temperature may vary according to the brass composition. Now these annealed pieces are carried through a linear series of the roller in order to reduce the thickness of the brass up to the limit of 2.5 mm. This process is called cold rolling. This process helps in increasing the hardness and strength of the brass.
- Finish rolling: In the last step, the sheets are taken to the final cold rolling that tightens the tolerances and provides a smooth surface finish to the brass. These sheets are then cut into the desired size, depending upon the requirement.
This is how the Brass Parts Manufacturers produce the brass that is used widely in the industry.