subject: How Suppliers Produce Brass Sheet [print this page] How Suppliers Produce Brass Sheet How Suppliers Produce Brass Sheet
Brass metals are among the most useful materials in construction. Contractors use brass metals to fasten iron and steel posts in buildings. Likewise, brass rods are used in electronics to hold spare parts of television, radio, and other home appliances. Computer systems also use brass rods to hold internal parts of motherboards and monitors. In lighting technology, brass screws hold bulbs and light bases together.
There are different types of brass metals. These are brass rods, sheets, foils, plates, and strips. In metal manufacturing, these are called brass stocks. The most commonly used stocks are brass plates and sheets. Brass plates are rectangular pieces of metals with a flat surface. Brass plates closely resemble plywood. Brass sheets have same length and width with plates, albeit they are thinner. Brass sheets are approximately 5mm thick.
There are four stages in producing brass sheets and plates. These are melting, hot rolling, annealing and cold rolling, and rolling finish. In melting, copper alloy is melted in an electric furnace. An electric furnace has a temperature of 1,050C. Copper metal is liquefied. Liquefied copper is mixed with zinc. Generally, 50% of required zinc level is added in liquefied copper. Additional levels compensate for the vaporized zinc during the melting process. Afterwards, the molten metal is poured on large plates. Metal compounds are allowed to cool. Dried up brass compounds are called cakes.
The cakes are moved to the rolling area. Brass sheet suppliers take off brass cakes from plates and move them on another furnace. In hot rolling, brass sheets are inserted in steel rollers. Steel rollers reduce the thickness of brass sheets. Likewise, they remove oxides on the surface. Hot rolling is also known as breakdown rolling.
Brass sheets undergo another process called annealing. In annealing, brass sheet suppliers roll metals in hotter surfaces. Brass sheets are fed into rollers to improve strength and grain structure. After this, brass sheets are reheated in lower temperatures. This is known as cold rolling. Cold rolling finalizes internal structure of brass sheets. This stage determines hardness, thickness, and strength of brass metals.
The last stage of brass production is rolling finish. Manufacturers smoothen out the surface of sheets and plates. Sheets are cut in different sizes and shapes. They are coiled and stacked. After these, a brass supplier delivers brass sheets to their distributors. Brass suppliers conduct quality-control procedures before delivery to distributors.
