drbob 0 Posted October 19, 2014 Share Posted October 19, 2014 Is aluminium an alloy while steel isn't? Link to post Share on other sites
Island Time 1,211 Posted October 19, 2014 Share Posted October 19, 2014 nope, steel is an alloy as well - an iron-carbon alloy Link to post Share on other sites
drbob 0 Posted October 19, 2014 Author Share Posted October 19, 2014 And what is aluminum an alloy of? Link to post Share on other sites
erice 732 Posted October 19, 2014 Share Posted October 19, 2014 aluminium is just that but 100% aluminium isn't used for much other than aluminium foil it isn't used for canning drinks it isn't used for building boats, aircraft or cars As a pure metal, it is quite soft, and must be strengthened by alloying with Cu, Mg, Si or Mn before it can be used structurally. Link to post Share on other sites
wheels 543 Posted October 19, 2014 Share Posted October 19, 2014 Alloy means a mixture of two or more components. It does not have to be another metal. Pure "steel" is called Iron and steel is when Iron has been mixed with another or multiple of other materials to make Steel in the Form wanted. Pure Iron is a softísh and malleable metal. Pure Iron mixed with Carbon becomes a harder, rigid, although more brittle metal and is used as Cast Iron. Pure Aluminium is not an alloy. But additional components are added to make the Aluminium suitable for specific purposes and thus it becomes an Alloy. That is why sometimes you will see in my Posts when I mention Aluminium, I abbreviate it to Ally not Alloy. I have made my own Alloy mixes to suit particular purposes I have been doing of late, where I mix Copper and Alloy together in a crucible, to meet a requirement of a particular need. Now here is a really interesting thing. Copper has a melting point of nearly 1200DegC. Alluminium has a melting point of 630'ísh degrees. Yet you can melt Copper into Alluminium at not a lot higher than the melting point of the Alluminium. This often happens with many materials. Another one is Glass. Pure Glass can have a melting point up around the 1200 Deg mark (some glass can be well over 2000Deg) but if you add Lead, you can bring the melting point down to just 800degC. Link to post Share on other sites
drbob 0 Posted October 19, 2014 Author Share Posted October 19, 2014 That is why sometimes you will see in my Posts when I mention Aluminium, I abbreviate it to Ally not Alloy. Bingo Link to post Share on other sites
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