
A combination of two or more metallic or non-metallic elements, an alloy is a completely new material with varying properties. This ScienceStruck article provides information on the different types of alloys.
An alloy is defined as a mixture of two or more elements, out of which at least one has to be a metal. It could be a combination of two or more metals, or the combination of a metal or metals with a nonmetal. The main component or metal in an alloy is referred to as the main metal or the base metal. Basically, the objective for creating alloys is that the combination of these metals and nonmetals imparts certain qualities. For instance, stainless steel, which is an alloy of steel and chromium, doesn’t rust or corrode like steel. The following sections list out some of the common alloys.
List of Alloys
Some well-known metals like aluminum, cobalt, copper, etc., have more than five types of alloys. Every metal has at least one alloy. Most of these alloys are used for industrial purposes. Here is a short list of alloys of some metals.
Aluminum
- AA-8000
- Alnico (aluminum, nickel, copper)
- Duralumin (copper, aluminum)
- Zamak (zinc, aluminum, magnesium, copper)
- Silumin (aluminum, silicon)
Aluminum forms other complex alloys with magnesium, manganese, and platinum.
Bismuth
- Wood’s metal (bismuth, lead, tin, cadmium)
- Field’s metal
- Rose metal (bismuth, lead, tin)
Cobalt
- Stellite (cobalt, chromium, tungsten or molybdenum, carbon)
- Talonite (cobalt, chromium)
- Ultimet (cobalt, chromium, nickel, molybdenum, iron, tungsten)
- Vitallium
- Megallium
Copper
- Arsenical copper
- Beryllium copper (copper, beryllium)
- Brass (copper, zinc)
- Billon (copper, silver)
- Bronze (copper, tin, aluminum or any other element)
- Constantan (copper, nickel)
- Cunife (copper, nickel, iron)
- Copper-tungsten (copper, tungsten)
- Cupronickel (copper, nickel)
- Cymbal alloys (Bell metal) (copper, tin)
- Electrum (copper, gold, silver)
- Heusler alloy (copper, manganese, tin)
- Hepatizon (copper, gold, silver)
- Manganin (copper, manganese, nickel)
- Nickel silver (copper, nickel)
- Shakudo (copper, gold)
- Nordic gold (copper, aluminum, zinc, tin)
Gold
- Tumbaga (gold, copper)
- Electrum (gold, silver, copper)
- White gold (gold, nickel, palladium, or platinum)
- Rose gold (gold, copper)
Iron
- Anthracite iron (carbon)
- Pig iron (carbon)
- Cast iron (carbon)
- Wrought iron (carbon)
Ferrous Alloys
- Steel (carbon)
- Silicon steel (silicon)
- Stainless steel (chromium, nickel)
- Tool steel (tungsten or manganese)
- Chromoly (chromium, molybdenum)
Lead
- Antimonial lead (lead, antimony)
- Solder (lead, tin)
- Molybdochalkos (lead, copper)
- Type metal (lead, tin, antimony)
Nickel
- Alumel (nickel, manganese, aluminum, silicon)
- Cupronickel (nickel, bronze, copper)
- Chromel (nickel, chromium)
- German silver (nickel, copper, zinc)
- Hastelloy (nickel, molybdenum, chromium, sometimes tungsten)
- Monel metal (copper, nickel, iron, manganese)
- Inconel (nickel, chromium, iron)
Zinc
- Zamak (zinc, aluminum, magnesium, copper)
On a concluding note, there are numerous alloys that are commonly used in several industries. Basically, in an alloy, the properties of the main constituent or metal is enhanced by combining it with another metal or non-metal.