Development, Microstructural and Mechanical Analysis of Cu-Zn Alloy Produced by Sand Casting Process

Alpha-brass (Cu-Zn Alloy) boasts of excellent mechanical properties such as high strength, ductility, and excellent corrosion resistance. In this study, the process design, development and mechanical analysis of Cu-Zn alloy produced by sand casting process were carried out. The process parameter optimization was carried out using the Response Surface Methodology (RSM) with the process conditions in the following range: temperature (300–500 ℃) and zinc content (5–25%) having the hardness as the response of the designed experiment. The raw materials were scraps of copper wire and zinc battery casing and 13 different compositions of the alloy were prepared having the total mass for each weight percentage weighing 1.5 kg. The results obtained indicated that developed brass possesses good hardness and that the hardness increases with an increases in the zinc content but decreases with an increase in the temperature. The optimum process parameters which produced the highest value of hardness (85.6 BHN) are temperature (300 ℃) and zinc content (20%). It is envisaged that the findings of this work will assist the brass material developers and the end users in the development of products with excellent mechanical properties.