Nickel Alloys' Characteristics, Classification, Consumption and Application

Nickel is an alloy metal, silvery white in color that takes on a high polish. It belongs to the class of transition metals, and is hard and ductile. The metal is found combined with sulphur in millerite, with arsenic in the mineral niccolite, and with arsenic and sulphur in nickel glance. It is pre-eminently an alloy metal, and its main use is in the nickel steels and nickel cast irons, of which there are large number of varieties. Consumers can find broad range of Nickel alloys in Nexteck Technology Limited. The metal is also widely used for many other alloys, such as nickel brasses and bronzes, and alloys with copper, chromium, aluminum, lead, cobalt, silver, and gold.

Commercial nickel and nickel alloys are available in the global market in a wide range of wrought and cast grades. Some of the common nickel alloys include:

Commercially pure nickel

Binary systems, including Ni-Cu, Ni-Si, and Ni-Mo

Ternary systems, including Ni-Cr-Fe and Ni-Cr-Mo

More complex systems, including Ni-Cr-Fe-Mo-Cu

Superalloys

The industrial consumption of the nickel metals can be summarized as follows:

Nickel steels (60%)

Nickel-copper alloys and nickel silver (14%)

Malleable nickel, nickel clad and Inconel (9%)

Plating (6%)

Nickel cast irons (3%)

Heat and electric resistance alloys (3%)

Nickel brasses and bronzes (2%)

Others (3%).

Nickel and its alloys, like nichrome, copper nickel alloy from Nexteck Technology Limited,  are widely used in large number of industries and areas including stainless steel, magnets, coinage and special alloys.