Dictionary:

brass

  (brăs)

1. 1. A yellowish alloy of copper and zinc, sometimes including small amounts of other metals, but usually 67 percent copper and 33 percent zinc.
   2. Ornaments, objects, or utensils made of this alloy.
2. Music.
   1. The section of a band or an orchestra composed of brass instruments. Often used in the plural.
   2. Brass instruments or their players considered as a group. Often used in the plural.
3. A memorial plaque or tablet made of brass, especially one on which an effigy is incised.
4. A bushing or similar lining for a bearing, made from a copper alloy.
5. Informal. Bold self-assurance; effrontery.
6. Slang. High-ranking military officers or other high officials.
7. Chiefly British. Money.

[Middle English bras, from Old English bræs.]

Background

Brass is a metal composed primarily of copper and zinc. Copper is the main component, and brass is usually classified as a copper alloy. The color of brass varies from a dark reddish brown to a light silvery yellow depending on the amount of zinc present; the more zinc, the lighter the color. Brass is stronger and harder than copper, but not as strong or hard as steel. It is easy to form into various shapes, a good conductor of heat, and generally resistant to corrosion from salt water. Because of these properties, brass is used to make pipes and tubes, weather-stripping and other architectural trim pieces, screws, radiators, musical instruments, and cartridge casings for firearms.

History

Ancient metalworkers in the area now known as Syria or eastern Turkey knew how to melt copper with tin to make a metal called bronze as early as 3000 B.C. Sometimes they also made brass without knowing it, because tin and zinc ore deposits are sometimes found together, and the two materials have similar colors and properties.

By about 20 B.C.-A.D. 20, metalworkers around the Mediterranean Sea were able to distinguish zinc ores from those containing tin and began blending zinc with copper to make brass coins and other items. Most of the zinc was derived by heating a mineral known as calamine, which contains various zinc compounds. Starting in about 300 A.D., the brass metalworking industry flourished in what is now Germany and The Netherlands.

Although these early metalworkers could recognize the difference between zinc ore and tin ore, they still didn't understand that zinc was a metal. It wasn't until 1746 that a German scientist named Andreas Sigismund Marggraf (1709-1782) identified zinc and determined its properties. The process for combining metallic copper and zinc to make brass was patented in England in 1781.

The first metal cartridge casings for firearms were introduced in 1852. Although several different metals were tried, brass was the most successful because of it's ability to expand and seal the breech under pressure when the cartridge was first fired, then contract immediately to allow the empty cartridge casing to be extracted from the firearm. This property led to the development of rapid-fire automatic weapons.

Raw Materials

The main component of brass is copper. The amount of copper varies between 55% and 95% by weight depending on the type of brass and its intended use. Brasses containing a high percentage of copper are made from electrically refined copper that is at least 99.3% pure to minimize the amount of other materials. Brasses containing a lower percentage of copper can also be made from electrically refined copper, but are more commonly made from less-expensive recycled copper alloy scrap. When recycled scrap is used, the percentages of copper and other materials in the scrap must be known so that the manufacturer can adjust the amounts of materials to be added in order to achieve the desired brass composition.

The second component of brass is zinc. The amount of zinc varies between 5% and 40% by weight depending on the type of brass. Brasses with a higher percentages of zinc are stronger and harder, but they are also more difficult to form and have less corrosion resistance. The zinc used to make brass is a commercial grade sometimes known as spelter.

Some brasses also contain small percentages of other materials to improve certain characteristics. Up to 3.8% by weight of lead may be added to improve machinability. The addition of tin improves corrosion resistance. Iron makes the brass harder and makes the internal grain structure smaller so that the metal can be shaped by repeated impacts in a process called forging. Arsenic and antimony are sometimes added to brasses that contain more than 20% zinc in order to inhibit corrosion. Other materials that may be used in very small amounts are manganese, silicon, and phosphorus.

Design

The traditional names for various types of brass usually reflected either the color of the material or the intended use. For example, red brass contained 15% zinc and had a reddish color, while yellow brass contained 35% zinc and had a yellowish color. Cartridge brass contained 30% zinc and was used to make cartridges for firearms. Naval brasses had up to 39.7% zinc and were used in various applications on ships.

Unfortunately, scattered among the traditional brass names were a number of misnomers. Brass with 10% zinc was called commercial bronze, even though it did not contain any tin and was not a bronze. Brass with 40% zinc and 3.8% lead was called architectural bronze, even though it was actually a leaded brass.

As a result of these sometimes confusing names, brasses in the United States are now designated by the Unified Numbering System for metals and alloys. This system uses a letter—in this case the letter "C" for copper, because brass is a copper alloy—followed by five digits. Brasses whose chemical composition makes them suitable for being formed into the final product by mechanical methods, such as rolling or forging, are called wrought brasses, and the first digit of their designation is I through 7. Brasses whose chemical composition makes them suitable for being formed into the final product by pouring molten metal into a mold are called cast brasses, and the first digit of their designation is 8 or 9.

The Manufacturing Process

The manufacturing process used to produce brass involves combining the appropriate raw materials into a molten metal, which is allowed to solidify. The shape and properties of the solidified metal are then altered through a series of carefully controlled operations to produce the desired brass stock.

Brass stock is available in a variety of forms including plate, sheet, strip, foil, rod, bar, wire, and billet depending on the final application. For example, brass screws are cut from lengths of rod. The zigzag fins used in some vehicle radiators are bent from strip. Pipes and tubes are formed by extruding, or squeezing rectangular billets of hot brass through a shaped opening, called a die, to form long, hollow cylinders.

The differences between plate, sheet, strip, and foil are the overall size and thickness of the materials. Plate is a large, flat, rectangular piece of brass with a thickness greater than about 0.2 in. (5 mm)—like a piece of plywood used in building construction. Sheet usually has the same overall size as plate, but is thinner. Strip is made from sheet that has been cut into long, narrow pieces. Foil is like strip, only much thinner. Some brass foil can be as thin as 0.0005 in (0.013 mm).

The actual manufacturing process depends on the desired shape and properties of the brass stock, as well as the particular machinery and practices used in different brass plants. Here is a typical manufacturing process used to produce brass sheet and strip.

Melting

• The appropriate amount of suitable copper alloy scrap is weighed and transferred into an electric furnace where it is melted at about 1,920°F (1,050°C). After adjusting for the amount of zinc in the scrap alloy, an appropriate amount of zinc is added after the copper melts. A small amount of additional zinc, about 50% of the total zinc required, may be added to compensate for any zinc that vaporizes during the melting operation. If any other materials are required for the particular brass formulation, they are also added if they were not present in the copper scrap.
• The molten metal is poured into molds about 8 in x 18 in x 10 ft (20 cm x 46 cm x 3 m) and allowed to solidify into slabs called cakes. In some operations, the melting and pouring are done semi-continuously to produce very long slabs.
• When the cakes are cool enough to be moved, they are dumped out of the molds and moved to the rolling area where they are stored.

Hot rolling

• The cakes are placed in a furnace and are reheated until they reach the desired temperature. The temperature depends on the final shape and properties of the brass stock.
• The heated cakes are then fed through a series of opposing steel rollers which reduce the thickness of the brass step-by-step to about 0.5 in (13 mm) or less. At the same time, the width of the brass increases. This process is sometimes called breakdown rolling.
• The brass, which is now much cooler, passes through a milling machine called a scalper. This machine cuts a thin layer off the outer faces of the brass to remove any oxides which may have formed on the surfaces as a result of the hot metal's exposure to the air.

Annealing and cold rolling

• As the brass is hot rolled it gets harder and more difficult to work. It also loses its ductility, or ability to be stretched further. Before the brass can be rolled further, it must first be heated to relieve some of its hardness and make it more ductile. This process is called annealing. The annealing temperatures and times vary according to the brass composition and desired properties. Larger pieces of hot-rolled brass may be placed in a sealed furnace and annealed together in a batch. Smaller pieces may be placed on a metal belt conveyor and fed continuously through a furnace with airtight seals at each end. In either method, the atmosphere inside the furnace is filled with a neutral gas like nitrogen to prevent the brass from reacting with oxygen and forming undesirable oxides on its surface.
• The annealed pieces of brass are then fed through another series of rollers to further reduce their thickness to about 0.1 in (2.5 mm). This process is called cold rolling because the temperature of the brass is much lower than the temperature during hot rolling. Cold rolling deforms the internal structure of the brass, or grain, and increases its strength and hardness. The more the thickness is reduced, the stronger and harder the material becomes. The cold-rolling mills are designed to minimize deflection across the width of the rollers in order to produce brass sheets with near-uniform thickness.
• Steps 7 and 8 may be repeated many times to achieve the desired thickness, strength, and degree of hardness. In some plants, the pieces of brass are connected together into one long, continuous sheet and are fed through a series of annealing furnaces and rolling mills arranged in a vertical serpentine pattern.
• At this point, the wide sheets may be slit into narrower sections to produce brass strip. The strip may then be given an acid bath and rinse to clean it.

Finish rolling

• The sheets may be given a final cold rolling to tighten the tolerances on the thickness or to produce a very smooth surface finish. They are then cut to size, stacked or coiled depending on their thickness and intended use, and sent to the ware-house for distribution.
• The strip may also be given a final finish rolling before it is cut to length, coiled, and sent to the warehouse.

Quality Control

During production, brass is subject to constant evaluation and control of the materials and processes used to form specific brass stock. The chemical compositions of the raw materials are checked and adjusted before melting. The heating and cooling times and temperatures are specified and monitored. The thickness of the sheet and strip are measured at each step. Finally, samples of the finished product are tested for hardness, strength, dimensions, and other factors to ensure they meet the required specifications.

The Future

Brass has a combination of strength, corrosion resistance, and formability that will continue to make it a useful material for many applications in the foreseeable future. Brass also has an advantage over other materials in that most products made from brass are recycled or reused, rather than being discarded in a landfill, which will help ensure a continued supply for many years.

Where to Learn More

Books

Brady, George S., Henry R. Clauser, and John A. Vaccari. "Brass." In Materials Handbook, 14th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1997.

Hombostel, Caleb. "Brass." In Construction Materials: Types, Uses, and Applications. New York: John Wiley and Sons, 1991.

Kroschwitz, Jacqueline I., and Mary Howe-Grant, eds. "Copper Alloys." In Encyclopedia of Chemical Technology, 4th ed. New York: John Wiley and Sons, Inc., 1993.

Other

Metalworld. http://www.metalworld.com (June 19, 2000).

[Article by: Chris Cavette]

Top management of an organization; originally term of military origin. It is generally used by those not in top management to indicate a broad area of responsibility without any fixed point of reference.

noun

1. The state or quality of being impudent or arrogantly self-confident: assumption, audaciousness, audacity, boldness, brashness, brazenness, cheek, cheekiness, chutzpah, discourtesy, disrespect, effrontery, face, familiarity, forwardness, gall, impertinence, impudence, impudency, incivility, insolence, nerve, nerviness, overconfidence, pertness, presumptuousness, pushiness, rudeness, sassiness, sauciness. Informal crust, sauce, uppishness, uppityness. See attitude/good attitude/bad attitude/neutral attitude, courtesy/discourtesy.
2. Something, such as coins or printed bills, used as a medium of exchange: cash, currency, lucre, money. Informal wampum. Slang bread, cabbage, dough, gelt, green, jack, lettuce, long green, mazuma, moola, scratch. See money.

Idioms beginning with brass:
brass ring

See also bold as brass; double in brass; get down to brass tacks.

Definition: impulsiveness; nerve
Antonyms: carefulness, caution, circumspection, prudence

For more information on brass, visit Britannica.com.

1. Any copper alloy having zinc as the principal alloying element, but often with small quantities of other elements.
2. A plate of brass with memorial inscription and sometimes an effigy engraved on it, set into a church floor to mark a tomb.

Musical instruments traditionally made of brass and played by blowing directly into a small, cup-shaped mouthpiece. They include the French horn, trumpet, trombone, and tuba.

Officers.

"Brazen" redirects here. For the Skunk Anansie song, see Brazen (Weep).

Brass is any alloy of copper and zinc; the proportions of zinc and copper can be varied to create a range of brasses, each of which has unique properties^[1]. Note that in comparison bronze is principally an alloy of copper and tin.^[2]. Despite this distinction, some types of brasses are called bronzes. Brass is a substitutional alloy. It is used for decoration for its bright gold-like appearance; for applications where low friction is required such as locks, gears, bearings, ammunition, and valves; for plumbing and electrical applications; and extensively in musical instruments such as horns and bells for its acoustic properties.

A decorative brass paperweight, left, along with zinc and copper samples.

Brass has a yellow color, somewhat similar to gold. It is relatively resistant to tarnishing, and is often used as decoration and for coins.

Brass has likely been known to humans since prehistoric times, even before zinc itself was discovered. It was produced by melting copper together with calamine, a zinc ore. In the German village of Breinigerberg an ancient Roman settlement was discovered where a calamine ore mine existed. During the melting process, the zinc is extracted from the calamine and mixes with the copper. Pure zinc, on the other hand, has too low a boiling point to have been produced by ancient metalworking techniques. The many references to 'brass' appearing throughout the King James Bible are thought to signify another bronze alloy, or copper, rather than the strict modern definition of 'brass'^[3].

Properties

The malleability and acoustic properties of brass have made it the metal of choice for brass musical instruments such as the trombone, tuba, trumpet, euphonium, and the French horn. Even though the saxophone is classified as a woodwind instrument and the harmonica is a free reed aerophone, both are also often made from brass. In organ pipes designed as "reed" pipes, brass strips are used as the "reed".

Brass has higher malleability than copper or zinc. The relatively low melting point (900–940 °C depending on composition) of brass and its flow characteristics make it a relatively easy material to cast. By varying the proportions of copper and zinc, the properties of the brass can be changed, allowing hard and soft brasses.

Today almost 90% of all brass alloys are recycled. Because most brass is nonmagnetic, it can be separated from ferrous scrap by passing the scrap near a powerful magnet. Brass scrap is collected and transported to the foundry where it is melted and recast into billets. Billets are later heated up and extruded into the right form and size.

Aluminum makes brass stronger and more corrosion resistant. Aluminum also causes a highly beneficial hard layer of aluminium oxide (Al₂O₃) to be formed on the surface that is thin, transparent and self healing. Tin has a similar effect and finds its use especially in sea water applications (naval brasses). Combinations of iron, aluminum, silicon and manganese make brass wear and tear resistant. A well known alloy used in the automotive industry is 'LDM C673', where the right combination of manganese and silicon lead to a strong and resistant brass.

The so called dezincification resistant (DZR) brasses, like alloy 'LDM G563' (known for its brand name 'Enkotal'), are used where there is a large corrosion risk and where normal brasses do not meet the standards. Applications with high water temperatures, chlorides present or deviating water qualities (soft water) play a role. DZR-brass is excellent in water boiler systems. This brass alloy must be produced with great care, with special attention placed on a balanced composition and proper production temperatures and parameters to avoid long-term failures. Drunen, Netherlands, has the only active production facility which makes these high grade brass alloys.

The copper in brass makes brass germicidal, via the oligodynamic effect. For example, brass doorknobs disinfect themselves of many bacteria within eight hours [2]. This effect is important in hospitals, but useful in many contexts.

Brass was used to make fan blades, fan cages and motor bearings in many antique fans that date before the 1930s. Brass can be used for fixings for use in cryogenic systems, however its use is not limited to this. ^[4]

The density of brass is approximately 8.4 g/cm³.

Brass types

• Admiralty brass contains 30% zinc and 1% tin which inhibits dezincification in most environments.
• Alpha brasses (Prince's metal), with less than 35% zinc, are malleable, can be worked cold, and are used in pressing, forging, or similar applications. They contain only one phase, with face-centered cubic crystal structure.
• Alpha-beta brass (Muntz metal), also called duplex brass, is 35-45 % zinc and is suited for hot working. It contains both α and β' phase; the β'-phase is body-centered cubic and is harder and stronger than α. Alpha-beta brasses are usually worked hot.
• Aluminum brass contains aluminum, which improves its corrosion resistance. Used in Euro coins (Nordic gold).
• Arsenical brass contains an addition of arsenic and frequently aluminium and is used for boiler fireboxes.
• Beta brasses, with 45-50 % zinc content, can only be worked hot, and are harder, stronger, and suitable for casting.
• Cartridge brass is a 30% zinc brass with good cold working properties.
• Common brass, or rivet brass, is a 37% zinc brass, cheap and standard for cold working.
• DZR brass is Dezincification resistant Brass with a small percentage of Arsenic.
• High brass, contains 65% copper and 35% zinc, has a high tensile strength and is used for springs, screws, rivets.
• Leaded brass is an alpha-beta brass with an addition of lead. It has excellent machinability.
• Low brass is a copper-zinc alloy containing 20% zinc with a light golden color, excellent ductility and is used for flexible metal hoses and metal bellows.
• Naval brass, similar to admiralty brass, is a 40% zinc brass and 1% tin.
• Red brass, while not technically brass, is an American term for CuZnSn alloy known as gunmetal.
• White brass contains more than 50 % zinc and is too brittle for general use.
• Yellow brass is an American term for 33% zinc brass.
• Gilding metal is the softest type of brass commonly available. It is an alloy of 95% copper and 5% zinc and is typically used for ammunition components.

See also

• Calamine brass — brass alloy and manufacturing process from discovery until the late 18th century
• Gilding metal; the softest form of brass commonly available
• Corinthian brass — an alloy of gold, silver and copper, known to antiquity
• Pinchbeck — a brass that closely resembles gold in appearance.
• Bronze — an alloy of copper with tin and optionally zinc, silicon, nickel and other metals
• Cupronickel — an alloy of copper with nickel
• Tombac — an alloy of copper with zinc
• Brass instrument — a musical instrument usually made of brass
• Brass rubbing — reproduction of brasses, commemorative plates laid down in British and European churches from the 13th Century onwards
• Brass bed — history of the usage of brass in beds and bedframes
• Latten — early brass alloys (Calamine brasses)

External links

• National Pollutant Inventory - Copper and compounds fact sheet
• The Copper Development Association also maintains a web site dedicated to brass
• Brass Sculpture.

References

1. ^ Engineering Designer, v 30, n 3, May-June 2004, 6-9
2. ^ Machinery Handbook, Industrial Press Inc, New York, Edition 24, page 501
3. ^ Cruden's Complete Concordance p. 55
4. ^ [1] Example patent referring to fixings

This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)

Dansk (Danish)
n. - messing
adj. - messing-, af messing, messingfarvet

idioms:

• brass band    hornorkester
• brass hat    højtstående officer
• brass rubbing    gnidebillede
• brassed off    utilfreds, led og ked
• get down to brass tacks    komme til sagen, komme til det essentielle

Nederlands (Dutch)
messing, koper, geld, hoge omes (m.n. militair), brutaliteit, brons, gedenkplaat, koperen

Français (French)
n. - laiton, cuivre jaune, plaque mortuaire (en cuivre), objet/ornement en cuivre, (Mus) cuivres, toupet, culot (fam), (GB) pognon (fam)
adj. - en/de cuivre

idioms:

• brass band    orchestre de cuivres, fanfare
• brass hat    officier d'état-major, (Mil) huile (arg)
• brass rubbing    décalquage par frottement, décalque (objet)
• brassed off    (GB) en avoir ras le bol
• get down to brass tacks    passer aux choses sérieuses

Deutsch (German)
n. - Messing, Blech
adj. - aus Messing, bronzen

idioms:

• brass band    Blaskapelle
• brass hat    (Slang) hohes Tier
• brass rubbing    Frottage (von Messingtafeln)
• brassed off    (ugs.) überdrüssig
• get down to brass tacks    zur Sache kommen

Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - ορείχαλκος, μπρούντζος, χαλκώματα, (μουσ.) χάλκινα πνευστά ορχήστρας, θράσος, τουπέ, (Βρετ.) παραδάκι, λεφτά, αναμνηστική πλακέτα
adj. - ορειχάλκινος, μπρούντζινος

idioms:

• brass band    φανφάρα, ορχήστρα χάλκινων οργάνων
• brass hat    ανώτερος αξιωματικός, γαλονάς
• brass rubbing    φροτάζ σε μπρούντζο
• brassed off    (καθομ.) αγανακτισμένος
• get down to brass tacks    (καθομ.) έρχομαι στην ουσία, έρχομαι στο ψητό

Italiano (Italian)
ottone, ottoni, di ottone

idioms:

• brass band    fanfara
• brass hat    ufficiale superiore
• brass rubbing    ricalco
• brassed off    irritato
• get down to brass tacks    venire al sodo

Português (Portuguese)
n. - latão (m), instrumentos (m pl) de sopro, coragem (f) (gír.), dinheiro (m) (gír.)
adj. - feito de latão
v. - revestir com latão

idioms:

• brass band    orquestra (f) de instrumentos de metal
• brass hat    alta patente (f) (gír.Mil.)
• brass rubbing    técnica (f) para cópia de entalhe feito em latão
• brassed off    cansado, cheio (gír.)
• get down to brass tacks    chegar aos fatos importantes
• top brass    alto escalão (m) das forças armadas

Русский (Russian)
латунь, латунный, нечувствительность, начальство

idioms:

• brass band    духовой оркестр
• brass hat    старший офицер
• brass rubbing    копировка притиранием
• brassed off    надоело, по горло
• get down to brass tacks    добраться до сути
• top brass    высшее начальство

Español (Spanish)
n. - latón, cobre amarillo, bronce, cobres
adj. - de cobre, cobreño, relativo a instrumentos de viento metálicos

idioms:

• brass band    banda, charanga, fanfarria
• brass hat    oficial del Estado Mayor
• brass rubbing    calco, sacado de una plata de latón
• brassed off    harto, hastiado
• get down to brass tacks    ir al grano

Svenska (Swedish)
n. - mässing, minnesplåt, kosing, stålar, fräckhet
adj. - mässing-

中文（简体） (Chinese (Simplified))
黄铜, 黄铜制品, 铜器, 黄铜色, 铜管乐器

idioms:

• brass band    铜管乐队
• brass hat    英军之参谋, 高级军官
• brass rubbing    拓印, 拓片
• brassed off    厌烦, 满腹怨气
• get down to brass tacks    讨论实质问题

中文（繁體） (Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 黃銅, 黃銅製品, 銅器, 黃銅色, 銅管樂器

idioms:

• brass band    銅管樂隊
• brass hat    英軍之參謀, 高級軍官
• brass rubbing    拓印, 拓片
• brassed off    厭煩, 滿腹怨氣
• get down to brass tacks    討論實質問題

한국어 (Korean)
n. - 놋쇠, 돈, 금관악기
adj. - 청동으로 만든, 청동색의, 금관 악기의

idioms:

• get down to brass tacks    핵심을 찌르다

日本語 (Japanese)
n. - 真ちゅう, 真ちゅう製品, ずうずうしさ, 金管楽器, 金管楽器部, 銭
adj. - 真ちゅう製の, 金管楽器の

idioms:

• brass band    ブラスバンド, 吹奏楽団
• brass hat    高級将校
• brass rubbing    碑文の拓本どり
• brassed off    飽きあきして
• get down to brass tacks    現実問題をつかむ

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(الاسم) نحاس, اصفر, صفر, مال, القسم النحاسي في جوق موسيقى, طبقه الضباط الكبار (صفه) مصنوع من الصفر, ذو لون النحاس, الأصفر, ما يخص آلات موسيقيه نحاسيه‏

עברית (Hebrew)
n. - ‮פליז, כלי-פליז, כלי-נשיפה, כסף, לוח-זיכרון, חוצפה‬

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