The Many Benefits of Nickel Copper Wires

Posted by Rajat Singh
2
Jan 21, 2016
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Alloys of copper and nickel are often known as cuprous nickel alloys. There exists a range of such alloys and they all possess different kind of properties. It is due to the difference in their properties that the nickel copper alloys are suited for a wide range of applications.  There are some best known versions of copper alloys with nickel. These include:

• Copper & 30% nickel
• Copper & 10% nickel
• Copper & 25% nickel and 0.05-0.4% manganese
• Copper & 45% nickel (this is also known as constantan)

These copper nickel alloys made up of only one phase of copper, as copper displays complete solid solubility.

Key Properties of nickel copper alloys:

There are different properties of nickel copper wires that vary with their composition, however, some of these properties are outlined below:

• Nickel copper wire either consists of copper nickel in the ration 70:30 or 90:10. 
• Nickel copper wires are highly ductile in nature.
• These wires are resistant to corrosion.
• The nickel copper wires can be hardened by cold working.
• The wires exhibit very good strength.
• The alloy has a very low temperature co-efficient of electrical resistance.
• It is the nickel that enables the wire to achieve the strength that it possesses even at high temperatures. An alloy without nickel does not possess that much strength.

Applications of Copper-Nickel Alloys

Water Condenser System & Sea Desalination Plants:

Since alloys of copper and nickel offer quite a good resistance, these are mostly employed in desalination plants as well as water condenser system. This alloy is also used in pipe works in chemical plants.

Automotive Applications

Since copper-nickel alloys provide extra safety, they are widely employed for the purpose of designing brake and hydraulic suspension systems. The alloy also finds usage in commercial vehicles for designing cooling systems. 

Marine Applications

Since the copper-nickel alloy offers good resistance to sea water and is resistant to its corrosion, the alloy finds wide application in the marine sector and is used for cladding of ships hulls, legs of oil rig and in sea water intake screens.

Coins

Copper nickel alloys are also used in the manufacture of coins, medals and semi-valuable goods.

Resistance Wire

Copper-nickel alloys have quite a low temperature co-efficient of electrical resistivity, and thus they find use in the making of high precision resistors. The resistors can operate at almost the same resistance irrespective of the temperature.

Thermocouples

The copper-nickel alloys are used in making thermocouples as the nickel develop a high and uniform EMF when it is combined with other metals like copper and iron.

Other Applications

Copper-nickel alloys find wide applications in various utilities such as in the manufacturing of cooling circuits, ammunitions, water resistant assemblies and condenser tubes.

Advantages of Nickel Copper Wire:

Nickel copper wires come with a lot of benefits and are widely used in the electrical and manufacturing industry. These wires are covered with nickel plating offering excellent electrical and thermal conductivity. The wires are resistant to corrosion as well and are used in high frequency applications.

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