What types of metal alloy are there?

Answer 1

Metals are elements and alloys are a homogeneous mixture of metals or metal and non-metal. Therefore, no metal is an alloy.
However, some common metal alloys are:

• alnico - aluminum, nickel, copper
• duralumin - copper and aluminium
• Woods metal - lead, tin and cadmium
• bronze - copper and tin
• brass - copper and zinc
• rose gold - copper and gold
• solder - lead and tin
• steel - iron and carbon, often other metals as well
• stainless steel - iron, carbon, chromium and other metals
  

Answer 2

There are very many alloys. An alloy is a mixture of 2 or more metals, each a chemical element; developed for their intended ranges of use.

Steel is unusual in being an alloy of iron and a trace of carbon which modifies the ability of the metal to be hardened by heating and quenching (rapid cooling) to make tools or hard-wearing machine parts.

"Ordinary" Mild Steel has only a small trace of carbon, giving a reasonable ductile and malleable, fairly free-cutting and weldable material. This is the basic material for all engineering purposes - beams for bridges and buildings' frames, car bodies, ships' hulls, your computer's case...

Stainless Steels are iron / nickel / chromium alloys first discovered in Sheffield (England) by Harry Brierley (I think), a metallurgist working on gun-barrel materials. When he noticed a particular mixture resisted corrosion he realised its potential for cutlery - and so it proved!

Other metals give steel particular characteristics - for example a touch of lead makes the metal "free-cutting" hence facilitates machining it on lathes etc, but reduces its tensile strength and weldability.

The oldest alloy of course is Bronze - copper + tin. No-one can know how and where this was discovered, 3-4 thousand years ago, but it made better tools and inspired a trade in vanity goods like combs, brooches and mirrors whose survivors show a contemporary flair for elegance! Bronze, in its many variations to suit many uses, is still a valuable engineering alloy.

Brass is Copper + Zinc. Like all alloys it has many uses but certain limitations. Brass and bronze have long been used in plain bearings, because steel slides easily on them (provided they are oiled).

Answer 3

There are thousands of alloys and many more yet to be discovered. There are over 80 different stainless steels alone.

Answer 4

There are 1000s of alloys and in theory an almost infinite number of possibilities. As an example there are over 80 different stainless steel alloys alone.