Nickel and Its Alloys L
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ecal Bureau of Standards Libre ' • >ldg jj| , ^£B 7 1§B8 NBS CIRCULAR 592 Nickel and Its Alloys l UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE NATIONAL BUREAU OF STANDARDS The National Bureau of Standards Functions and Activities The functions of the National Bureau of Standards are set forth in the Act of Congress, March 3, 1901, as amended by Congress in Public Law 619, 1950. These include the develop¬ ment and maintenance of the national standards of measurement and the provision of means and methods for making measurements consistent with these standards; the determination of physical constants and properties of materials; the development of methods and instruments for testing materials, devices, and structures; advisory services to Government Agencies on scientific and technical problems; invention and development of devices to serve special needs of the Government; and the development of standard practices, codes, and specifications. The work includes basic and applied research, development, engineering, instrumentation, testing, evaluation, calibration services, and various consultation and information services. A major portion of the Bureau’s work is performed for other Government Agencies, particularly the Department of Defense and the Atomic Energy Commission. The scope of activities is suggested by the listing of divisions and sections on the inside of the back cover. Publications The results of the Bureau’s work take the form of either actual equipment and devices or published papers; these papers appear either in the Bureau’s own series of publications or in the journals of professional and scientific societies. The Bureau itself publishes three monthly periodicals, available from the Government Printing Office: The Journal of Research, which presents complete papers reporting technical investigations; the Technical News Bulletin, which presents summary and preliminary reports on work in progress; and Basic Radio Propagation Predictions, which provides data for determining the best frequencies to use for radio communi- cations throughout the world. There are also five series of nonperiodical publications: The Applied Mathematics Series, Circulars, Handbooks, Building Materials and Structures Reports, and Miscellaneous Publications. Information on the Bureau’s publications can be found in NBS Circular 460, Publications of the National Bureau of Standards ($1.25) and its Supplement ($0.75), available from the Superintendent of Documents, Government Printing Office, Washington 25, D. C. UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE • Sinclair Weeks, Secretary NATIONAL BUREAU OF STANDARDS • A. V. Astin, Director Nickel and Its Alloys J. G. Thompson f National Bureau of Standards Circular 592 Issued February 5, 1958 [Supersedes Circular 485] For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U. S. Government Printing Office Washington 25, D. C. - Price 60 cents Preface Publications by the National Bureau of Standards include a series of Circulars, each of which represents a compilation and critical review of available information on a particular subject. Metallurgical Circulars, each dealing with a particular metal and its alloys, have been prominent in this series. Circular 100 entitled “Nickel and Its Alloys” was published in 1921, when expansion and growth of the nickel industry were becoming noticeable. A second edition (revised) was issued in 1924. At the close of World War II the subject was again reviewed and Circular 485 was published in 1950. However, much information about the strategic element, nickel, had been developed during World War II, but was not yet available for publication in Circular 485. The phenomenal expansion of the North American nickel industry since 1950, the release of some of the previously restricted information, the development of new theories of alloying and heat treatment, and the development of new alloys to meet industrial requirements of ever increasing severity made it desirable again to revise the Nickel Circular. The current revision was sponsored by the International Nickel Company, Inc., and was conducted at the National Bureau of Standards under the Bureau’s Research Associate plan. This revision represents a review of the literature through 1956 and includes some 1957 references and unpublished information. A. V. Astin, Director. Contents Page Page Preface_ hi a. Melting and casting_ 29 1. Introduction_ 1 b. Ilot-torming (forging, rolling, extru¬ 1.1. History_ 1 sion)_ 29 1.2. Occurrence, minerals, ores_ 1 c. Cold-forming (drawing, shearing, 1.3. Recovery of nickel from its ores___ 4 punching, spinning)_ 30 1.4. Statistics of production and consumption. _ 8 d. Welding, brazing, and soldering_ 30 1.5. Available forms of nickel_ 10 e. Annealing_ 30 1.6. Metallography of nickel and its alloys_ 12 f. Pickling_ 31 a. Selection of specimens_ 12 g. Machining_ 31 b. Preparation of specimens_ 12 h. Grinding, polishing, and buffing__ 31 c. Metallographic examination_ 13 2.6. Uses of nickel_ 31 2. Nickel: Properties and uses_ 14 a. Plating_ 31 2.1. Chemical properties_ 14 (1) Electroplating_ 31 a. Behavior in corrosive media_ 14 (2) Electroless plating_ 33 (1) Water_ 14 (3) Nickel cladding_ 33 (2) Mineral acids, alkalies, and (4) Sprayed and vapor-deposited salts_I_ 14 coatings_ 34 (3) Organic acids and compounds. 14 b. Nickel powders_ 34 (4) Atmospheres_ 14 c. End uses of nickel and nickel-surfaced (5) Wet and dry gases_ 15 material_ 34 (6) Oxidation_ 15 3. Ferrous alloys_ 35 b. Adsorption and diffusion of gases_ 15 3.1. Genera]_ 35 c. Catalytic action_ 16 3.2. Nickel steels_ 35 d. Electrolytic solution potential: pas¬ a. Low-alloy steels_ 37 sivity_ 16 b. High-strength low-alloy structural e. Hygienic significance_ 17 steels_ 41 2.2. Physical properties_ 17 c. Ultra-high-strength structural steels.. 42 a. General_ 17 3.3. Cast steels and cast irons_ 43 (1) Atomic number and weight: a. Cast steels_ 43 isotopes_ 17 b. Cast irons__ 45 (2) Nuclear properties_ 18 3.4. Austenitic chromium-nickel steels_ 48 (3) Crystal form and lattice con¬ a. General_ 48 stant_ 18 b. Physical and mechanical properties_ 50 (4) Density_ 18 c. Resistance to corrosion_ 52 b. Optical properties_ 18 (1) Oxidation and atmospheric cor¬ (1) Reflection, transmission, and rosion_ 52 absorption_ 18 (2) General_ 53 (2) Emissivity; spectrum_ 19 (3) Stress corrosion_ 54 c. Thermal properties_ 19 3.5. Ferrous super alloys, wrought and cast_ 54 (1) Melting point; heat of fusion. 19 3.6. Thermal-expansion alloys_57 (2) Boiling point_ 19 3.7. Magnetic alloys_ 59 (3) Specific heat_,_ 19 a. Magnetically soft materials_ 59 (4) Thermal expansion_ 20 b. Permanent magnets_ 61 (5) Thermal conductivity_ 20 4. Nonferrous alloys_ 62 (6) Thermionic properties_ 21 4.1. General_ 62 d. Electrical properties_ 21 4.2. Nickel-copper alloys (more than 50 percent (1) Electrical resistivity_ 21 nickel)_ 62 (2) Thermal electromotive force_ 22 a. Monel_ 62 e. Magnetic properties_ 22 (1) Development_ 62 (1) General_ 22 (2) Physical and mechanical proper¬ (2) Curie point_ 22 ties_ 63 (3) Saturation_ 23 (3) Corrosion resistance_ 65 (4) Permeability__ 23 4.3. Copper-nickel alloys (less than 50-percent (5) Coercive force__ 23 nickel)_ 66 (6) Magnetostriction_ 23 a. Coinage alloys_ 66 2.3. Mechanical properties_ 24 b. Corrosion-resistant engineering alloys.. 67 a. Tensile properties_ 24 c. Thermocouple and electrical resistance b. Elastic properties_ 25 alloys_ 68 c. Hardness_ 26 d. Copper-nickel-zinc alloys_ 68 d. Impact_ 26 e. Miscellaneous copper-base alloys_ 69 e. Endurance limit_ 26 (1) Brass_ 69 f. Creep_ 26 (2) Tin-nickel bronze_ 69 g. Ductility_ 27 (3) Aluminum-nickel bronze_ 70 h. Friction_ 27 (4) Manganese-nickel bronze_ 70 i. Transmission of sound_ 27 4.4. Nickel-chromium alloys_ 70 2.4. Effect of minor constituents on properties. 27 a. Chromel P_ 70 a. Carbon_ 28 b. 80 Ni-20 Cr alloy_ 70 b. Cobalt_ 28 c. Nickel-chromium-iron alloys_ 71 c. Copper_ 28 (1) Inconel_ 71 d. Iron_ 28 (2) Nimonic alloys_:_ 72 e. Magnesium_ 28 (3) Other Ni-Cr-Fe alloys_ 73 f. Manganese_ 28 4.5. Hastelloy alloys_ 73 g. Oxygen_ 28 4.6. Nonferrous super alloys_ 74 h. Silicon_ 29 4.7. Miscellaneous nonferrous alloys_ 77 i. Sulfur_ 29 2.5. Industrial melting, casting, and fabrication 5. Binary and ternary alloy systems_ 78 of malleable nickel_ 29 6. References_ 78 IV Nickel and Its Alloys J. G. Thompson* A review is presented of available information about the occurrence, recovery and refining, properties, and uses of high-purity and commercial forms of nickel, and about the properties and industrial applications of its important alloys. The Circular is a revision of National Bureau of Standards Circular 485 issued in 1950. 1. Introduction 1.1. History The first appreciable use of nickel was in the early years of the 19th century when Europeans Alloys of nickel had been known and used for began making their own versions of the Chinese thousands of years before identification of nickel paktong. Nickel piating originated in 1843, and as a metallic element was established. There is by 1870 had become an important use for the reliable evidence that prehistoric man made use metal. Uses for metallic nickel were considerably of iron-nickel alloys of meteoric origin, and the expanded in 1879, when Fleitman, in Germany, use of these meteoric alloys for the production of added magnesium and manganese to overcome the implements, such as arrow tips, spearheads, and embrittling action of sulfur and thereby produced knives, or for jewelry, persisted among primitive ductile, malleable metal. This put