ASTM B601 provides standardized terminology for indicating tempers of copper and copper alloy products. This article presents comprehensive classifications of temper designations organized according to U.S. manufacturing terminology, including annealed, manufactured, cold-worked, heat-treated, and welded tube tempers. Each classification includes an alphanumeric code system used for product specification, detailing the processes that produce these tempers and the resulting material characteristics. This reference guide serves manufacturers, engineers, and materials specialists working with copper and copper alloys.
Standard ASTM B601 defines the terminology in general use for indicating the temper of copper and copper alloy products. It describes the processes that produce various tempers and the observable changes in the product resulting from these processes. Additionally, it establishes an alphanumeric code system for designating product tempers.In the following sections, tempers are classified according to terminology used by U.S. manufacturers of copper and copper alloy products and are arranged in a systematic order with their designated code letters.
The main temper classifications for copper and copper alloys include:
Tempers produced by annealing to meet mechanical properties requirements.
Tempers produced by annealing to meet standard or special grain size requirements.
Tempers produced in the product by the primary manufacturing operations of casting and hot working and controlled by the methods employed in the operations.
Tempers produced by controlled amounts of cold work, Cold-Worked (Drawn), Stress-Relieved Tempers, HR-Tempers produced by controlled amounts of cold work followed by stress relief and Order-Strengthening Tempers, HT-Tempers produced by controlled amounts of cold work followed by a thermal treatment to produce order strengthening.
Tempers that are based on heat treatments followed by rapid cooling
Tempers produced by quench hardening treatments.
Tempers produced by solution heat treating precipitation hardenable or spinodal hardenable alloys.
Tempers produced by controlled amounts of cold work of solution heat-treated precipitation hardenable or spinodal hardenable alloys.
Tempers produced by precipitation heat treatment of precipitation-hardenable alloys.
Tempers produced by spinodal heat treatment of spinodal hardenable alloys.
Tempers produced in alloys that have been solution heat treated, cold worked, and precipitation heat treated.
Tempers produced in alloys that have been solution heat treated, cold worked and spinodal heat treated.
Tempers of heat-treated materials as supplied by the mill resulting from combinations of cold work and precipitation heat treatment or spinodal heat treatment.
Tempers produced by cold working the precipitation heat-treated or spinodal heat-treated alloys.
Tempers produced in the cold-worked precipiation heattreated or spinodal heat-treated alloys by thermal stress relief.
(Welded tubes are produced from strip of various tempers and essentially have the temper of the strip except in the heat-affected zone.)
Tempers that result from forming and welding when producing tube.
Temper that results from forming, welding, and annealing when producing tube.
Tempers that result from forming, welding, and cold working when producing tube.
Tempers that result from forming, welding, cold working, and stress relieving when producing tube.
Tempers that result from both annealing a welded and cold worked tube, or cold working, a welded cold worked and annealed tube. With these treatments, the weld area has been transformed into a wrought structure, and the usual temper designations apply.
This comprehensive classification system for copper and copper alloy tempers provides manufacturers, engineers, and metallurgists with standardized terminology for precise specification of material conditions. By understanding the alphanumeric codes and corresponding processes, industry professionals can ensure proper material selection and processing to achieve desired properties in copper and copper alloy products.
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