Materials are the building blocks for the engineering industry in the modern world. Due to technological advancements today, engineers have had the chance to work with a variety of materials, irrespective of their physical form. In addition, technological advancements have made it possible to produce generic materials that have unique properties compared to the original materials. Copper stands out as one of the oldest metals that man has encountered. Excavators have come across items made of copper that date back 10,000 years ago in places such as Iraq. Besides, copper alloys began being used as early as 5000BC in areas such as Egypt . Copper and copper alloys have a variety of uses, which are tied to the unique properties these materials have.
The physical properties of copper and its alloys are the reasons that have made this metal valuable to people and especially in engineering. Concerning density, copper has a density value of 8940 kg m-3 which translates to 8.9 g/cm3. The metal has very high melting and boiling points which are 1083°C and 2595 °C respectively. The thermal conductivity value at 68°F (20°C) stands at 3.94 Wcm/cm2 °C, while the electrical conductivity value at the same temperature stands at 58.0 - 58.9MS/m . Other important specifications include the Modulus of Elasticity, which at 68°F (20°C) has the value of 118,000 MPa and Modulus of Rigidity, which at 68°F (20°C) has the value of 44,000 MPa .
A unique aspect of copper is the fact that it is easily combined with other metals to make alloys. Due to this factor, the world has seen the production of more than 500 copper alloys, which are duly recognized by the American Society for Testing and Materials International . The reason for the availability of this big number of alloys is the need of hardening of copper for industrial applications. On its own, copper has excellent properties when thermal and electrical activities are considered. In industrial activity however, it becomes necessary to harden copper for more efficiency. Some of the most common alloys include brass, which comes as a product of copper and zinc. Bronze comes as a product of copper and tin while cupro-nickel is a product of copper and nickel .
Copper and its alloys have for long been used in various applications, and these are tied to particular properties that the materials have. A common use of these materials is in electric cables and decorations. Because copper is very low in the reactivity series; it does not have the tendency to corrode. This means that it appears to be a suitable material for making cables, pipes, radiators jewelry and statutes that are supposed to stay intact for years. The antibacterial property of copper is another aspect that has brought on board many uses of copper. Because copper is a pure metal, it slows down the growth of harmful bacteria, a property that cannot be attached to other engineering materials. To this end, copper is used in aspects such as food preparation, manufacturing of hospital equipment and plumbing in general .
Another property that makes copper very useful in a variety of industries and activities is the ability to join quickly copper. To this end, copper appears to be a useful material when working with pipes and when manufacturing sealed copper vessels. This is because copper can be easily joined through procedures such as soldering and brazing. The ductile nature of copper is another property that makes copper very useful to the modern day engineering or industry. Being ductile, it is easy for engineers to obtain copper pipes and wires . Besides, there is the advantage of the resulting wires and pipes being light and allowing for bending in corners. Also, there is the aspect of safety in such wires and pipes since they do not support combustion. The toughness attached to copper and its alloys is another property that makes these material useful in various industries. Due to the aspect of being tough, items made of copper and copper alloys do not shatter on impact. The implication is that they are efficient in the production of heavy tools and weapons. These materials also maintain toughness even when extremely cooled. Another important aspect is the non-magnetic feature of copper and its alloys. This means that the materials can be applied in a wide variety of industries, which require nonmagnetic tools and equipment.
Another property that increases the applications of copper and its alloys is the aspect of color. The golden color varies in different alloys, depending on the copper content in them. To this end, the materials have been heavily used in jewelry. Besides, the fact that copper and its alloys are resistant means that the ornaments are not easily tarnished. A proof of the intergenerational application of copper can be seen in the Statue of Liberty. This has for long been a statue that the American people have identified with as representing the values that the country stands on. Apart from the political and social importance of the statue, it is a show of the properties that copper has. Given that, the statue’s skin has worn off 0.005 of an inch for the century the statue has been standing, the quality of copper as an engineering material is proven .
In conclusion, copper and copper alloys are materials widely used in different industries in the world. Being among the first metals discovered by man, the metal has been responsible for facilitating the process of human civilization over time. With more innovations and discoveries being made, copper and copper alloys continue getting more uses due to their impressive properties.
Figure 1: Copper and copper alloy demand in Europe, China, Japan and in the U.S. in 2014 (in 1,000 metric tons)
(statista.com, 2014)
Figure 2: Typical uses of copper alloys.
(Copper Development Association)
Figure 3: Various Copper Alloy Colorations
(Copper Development Association)
(Copper Development Association)
Works Cited
Copper Development Association. Copper - From Beginning to End. n.d. 9 March 2016 <http://www.copper.org/education/copper-production/>.
Kiener, Daniel. ""Determination of mechanical properties of copper at the micron scale."." Advanced Engineering Materials 8.11 (2006): 1119-1125.
Kireta, Andrew G. and Konrad Kundig. Diamond Anniversary for ASTM Committee. n.d. 9 March 2016 <http://www.astm.org/SNEWS/OCTOBER_2004/kirkun_oct04.html>.
statista.com. Copper and copper alloys - demand in global key regions 2014. n.d. 9 March 2016 <http://www.statista.com/statistics/281095/copper-and-copper-alloy-demand/>.
