Thin beryllium copper and nickel strips

Alloy 390:
This alloyis an innovation of Brush Wellman. It is supplied hardened and offersvery highmechanical strength and in relation to this strength exceptionally highelectric conductivity.

Alloy 174:
Copper alloy with low berylliumcontent. It contains only few alloy elements: Beryllium and cobalt.Alloy 174combines outstanding electric conductivity with high mechanicalstrength(typical values: 50% et  750N/mm²Alloy 174 is supplied hardened so that a later heat treatment of theproductsis not necessary. This reduces production costs and prevents thedeformation ofthe finished products. Although alloy 174 is supplied in hardenedcondition, itshows excellent bending behaviour. This alloy distinguishes byexcellentbending behaviour in connection with mechanical strength andconductivity,which outperforms any other copper alloy of this price level.

Alloy 3:
Compared to alloy 25 and 190 it contains only a low beryllium content.Thus, it shows a medium mechanical strength while electric conductivityishigh. The alloy 3 can be hardened and provides outstanding bendingbehaviour inunhardened condition. Factory-annealing is also possible for alloy 3,therebyslightly reducing the formability, whilst heat treatment of thefinishedproducts is not necessary.

Alloy M25:
It isidentical to a version of lead-containing alloy 25 and achieves thesameexceptional strength after hardening. This alloy is supplied as wiresand rodswhich are mainly employed for machined products. Its low lead contentimprovesits machinability (shorter chips and reduced wear of tools). The alloyisnormally hardened after machining. It can however be soft-annealedagain sothat it can be crimped and electroplated. This alloy distinguishes byhighendurance limit, outstanding relaxation resistance at exposure to heatand aunique strength-conductivity ratio.

Alloy 190:
LamineriesMATTHEY also supply mill hardened CuBe2 alloys, the so-called alloy190. Whenusing this alloy, heat treatment at the customer is no longernecessary,preventing also the distorsion of the finished product. Alloy 190providesoutstanding bending behaviour, which however varies according to thedifferenttempers.

Alloy 25:
This alloy which contains approximatively 2 % of beryllium and achievesthe highest mechanical strength and hardness after heat treatment ofall copperberyllium alloys. In soft or slightly re-rolled condition, it exhibitsexcellent bending behaviour. It distinguishes itself by high fatiguestrength,outstanding relaxation resistance at elevated temperatures and a uniquecombination of high strength and excellent electrical conductivity.

Copper-berylliumalloys offer a combination of mechanical and electrical propertieswhich isunique for copper alloys. The mechanical strength achieved after heattreatmentranks highest among all copper alloy materials and is combined with anelectrical conductivity which outperforms that of bronzes. In order tobestmeet the different needs of the electrical engineering, connector andwatch industries,a full range of copper-beryllium alloys is rolled at LamineriesMATTHEY. Inextreme cases, when the spring properties are critical even at hightemperatures, nickel-beryllium is used as the solution of choice.

Lamineries MATTHEY produces a broad assortment of copper alloys supplied in form of thin precision strip and foil.