From your own experience, you probably know that characteristics will vary widely between types of alloy, but in general, alloys have benefits like those below:
- Improved Properties:You can find alloys that have better properties than metals alone. Alloy materials aim to deliver improved properties, compared with the constituents. Steel is stronger and more durable than Iron alone, and bronze is harder and more corrosion-resistant than pure Copper.
- Customizability:Alloys enable desirable properties that do not exist in the original pure metals to be obtained. For instance, aluminum alloys are much stronger and harder compared to pure aluminum, which is soft and malleable.
- Diversity:Several hundred different alloys currently exist. Alloys have been created to serve many different applications. New alloys are also constantly being developed.
- Strength:Alloys are stronger than their pure metal counterparts, which can give you many benefits. Additional elements in the base metal’s lattice structure make it harder for atoms to move around, which makes the material stronger.
- Corrosion Resistance:Alloys are often of higher corrosion-resistance than their pure primary component. Additive elements are usually constituted to oxidize and form a barrier layer on the surface of the alloy. This is particularly the case with stainless steels, such as stainless steel 316/L, a common choice among Xometry users.
- Electrical Conductivity:Alloys tend to have lower electrical conductivity than pure metals. The addition of atoms with different charges in the lattice structure of the base metal can interfere with the flow of electrons through an alloy.
- Thermal Conductivity:Alloys tend to have lower thermal conductivity than pure metals. A metal’s ability to conduct heat is dependent on the number of free electrons within its atoms. The addition of atoms with different charges in the lattice structure of the base metal can interfere with the flow of electrons through an alloy.
