Production process and product advantages of C17500 copper rod:

1. Production process

Smelting and continuous casting

Raw materials (such as copper, zinc ingots, etc.) are mixed in proportion and put into the furnace to heat to liquid state to form a copper alloy solution, and then the copper rod blank is formed by continuous casting.

Hot extrusion and drawing

The copper rod blank after continuous casting is formed by hot extrusion, and the size is further refined, the surface finish and density are improved by the drawing process. The mainstream process in China adopts the extrusion method to ensure the uniformity and high precision of the material.

Annealing treatment

The copper rod is softened in the annealing furnace to eliminate internal stress and improve the processing performance.

Aging hardening

C17500 is a precipitation-strengthened beryllium-cobalt-copper alloy. It needs to be quenched (solid solution treatment) and aging hardening process to precipitate beryllium intermetallic compounds, which significantly improves strength, hardness and conductivity.

Surface processing

Some products need to be polished, cut and other post-processing to meet the surface requirements of high-precision molds or electrodes.

2. Product Advantages

High strength and high hardness

After aging hardening, the tensile strength can reach more than 240 MPa, and the hardness (HB) can reach 230. It has both high elastic modulus and fatigue resistance, and is suitable for cyclic loading scenarios.

Excellent electrical and thermal conductivity

The electrical conductivity is 45-65% of pure copper (IACS ≥ 50%), and the thermal conductivity is as high as 235 W/m·k. It can quickly dissipate heat, suitable for electrical components and mold inserts, and significantly shortens the injection molding cycle.

Corrosion and wear resistance

It has high chemical stability in the atmosphere, fresh water and seawater, strong resistance to intergranular corrosion and impact corrosion, and excellent wear resistance, which prolongs the life of the mold.

Non-magnetic and anti-spark properties

It is non-magnetic and does not produce sparks when impacted. It is suitable for magnetically sensitive environments (such as aerospace) and flammable and explosive places (such as oil and mines).

Excellent processing performance

It supports a variety of forming methods such as hot extrusion, cold rolling, stamping, welding, etc., has good cutting processability, and is easier to process complex shapes after pre-aging.

High surface precision and polishability

It can be made into a mirror-like surface with good anti-adhesion performance, suitable for high-precision molds (such as injection molds, blow molds) and hot runner systems.