Non-Ferrous Materials

All the metallic elements other than iron are referred to as non- ferrous materials.

NON-FERROUS MATERIALS

1. Introduction

✓ All the metallic elements other than iron are referred to as non- ferrous materials.

✓ In other words, non-ferrous materials are those metals which contain elements other than iron as their chief constituent.

✓ Even though non-ferrous materials are not produced in as great tonnages and are more costly than ferrous materials (steel and cast iron), the non-ferrous materials are widely employed in current engineering industries due to the following characteristics↑:

1. Lighter in weight.

2. Higher electrical and thermal conductivity.

3. Better resistance to corrosion.

4. Ease of fabrication (casting, rolling, forging, welding, and machining).

5. Colour.

✓ Various non-ferrous materials: Of all the non-ferrous materials, the important non-ferrous materials used in engineering practice are :

1. Copper,

2. Aluminium,

3. Lead,

4. Magnesium,

5. Nickel,

6. Tin,

7. Titanium, and

8. Zinc.

Now, we shall discuss about copper and its alloys, and aluminium and its alloys, in detail, in the following sections.

† These characteristics are the distinct limitations of the ferrous materials.