5 Common Uses of Beryllium Copper Alloys

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5 Common Uses of Beryllium Copper Alloys

A series of beryllium copper alloys can be formed by dissolving about 2% of beryllium in copper. Beryllium copper alloy is the “king of elasticity” in copper alloy and its strength is about twice that of other copper alloys. At the same time, beryllium copper alloy has high thermal conductivity and electrical conductivity, excellent processing performance, is non-magnetic, and has no sparks when impacted.

Therefore, the uses of beryllium copper alloys are extremely wide, mainly in the following aspects:

1. Beryllium Copper Alloys Are Used as Conductive Elastic Elements and Elastic Sensitive Elements

More than 60% of the total output of beryllium copper is used as an elastic material. For example, it is widely used as elastic elements such as switches, reeds, contacts, bellows, and diaphragms in the electronics and instrument industries.

2. Beryllium Copper Alloys Are Used as Sliding Bearings and Wear-resistant Components

Because of the good wear resistance of beryllium copper alloy, it is used to make bearings in computers and many civil airliners. For example, American Airlines replaced copper bearings with beryllium copper bearings, and the service life was increased from 8000h to 28000h. 

In addition, the wires of electric locomotives and trams are made of beryllium copper, which is not only corrosion-resistant, wear-resistant, and high-strength but also has good conductivity.

3. Beryllium Copper Alloys Are Used as Explosion-proof Tool

In the petroleum, chemical industry, etc., because beryllium copper does not generate sparks when impacted, various operating tools can be made of beryllium copper. In addition, operating tools made of beryllium copper have been used in various explosion-proof works.

4. Application of Beryllium Copper Alloy in Mold

Because the beryllium copper alloy has high hardness, strength, good thermal conductivity, and good castability, it can directly cast mold with extremely high precision and complex shape.

Moreover, the beryllium copper alloy mold has a good finish, clear patterns, short production cycle, and the old mold material can be reused, which can save costs. Beryllium copper alloy has been used as the plastic mold, pressure casting mold, precision casting mold, etc.

5. Applications in High-conductivity 

For example, Cu-Ni-Be and Co-Cu-Be alloys have high strength and electrical conductivity, with a conductivity of up to 50% IACS. Highly conductive beryllium copper alloy is mainly used for contact electrodes of electric welding machines and elastic components with high conductivity in electronic products. The application range of this alloy is gradually expanding.

More about Beryllium Copper Alloys

Beryllium copper alloy can be divided into two categories. According to the alloy composition, beryllium content of 0.2% ~ 0.6% is high conductivity beryllium copper alloy; beryllium content of 1.6% ~ 2.0% is high strength beryllium copper alloy.

The world’s largest beryllium copper alloy manufacturer is Brush Wellman in the United States. Its corporate standards correspond to international standards and have a certain authority.

Conclusion 

Thank you for reading our article, and we hope it can help you have a better understanding of beryllium copper alloys. If you want to know more about beryllium, you can visit Advanced Refractory Metals (ARM) for more information.

Headquartered in Lake Forest, California, USA, Advanced Refractory Metals (ARM) is a leading manufacturer & supplier of refractory metals across the world. We provide customers with high-quality refractory metal products such as tungsten, molybdenum, tantalum, rhenium, titanium, and zirconium at a very affordable price.