We are leading specialist suppliers of Nickel Alloys to many industries.
Some specialist manufacturing and construction industries, such as aviation, nuclear and turbine power plants, power cables, petrochemical plants, medical engineering and instruments, communication isolators and actuators, desalination plants, and many more, require high-performance nickel alloys which are invulnerable to high temperatures, oxidation and corrosion, high shape memory and low expansion coefficients.
This is a highly specialised area with which Special Metal Alloys can serve clients with expert technical advice and support and supply top-grade nickel alloys from leading mill agencies around the world.
Commonly found in the earth’s crust, the crystalline structure of nickel pairs well with other metals, altering their properties to form an incredibly versatile alloy. Nickle alloys are highly-adaptable and have complete solid solubility ranges with almost all metals in carefully balanced combinations, with nickel as the principal element.
Compared to austenitic alloys, which consist mainly of austenite – also known as a gamma-phase iron, – nickel alloys are astutely blended with elements of chromium, cobalt, aluminium, copper, iron, titanium, molybdenum, and more to obtain the properties desired in a specific application.
Nickel Alloys outperform any other metal in terms of strength-to-weight ratio, resistance to high temperatures, electrical conductivity, and corrosion in extreme environments such as aircraft turbines, nuclear power systems, chemical plants, and even the spark plugs in an internal combustion engine.
Pure nickel is used in the chemical industry and environments for its corrosion resistance to specific alkalis, in transducers where one form of energy is converted to another form, and in environments where shielding against electromagnetic interference is required.
Nickel-iron alloys are soft magnetic materials with an almost zero thermal expansion coefficient, making them highly suitable as glass-to-metal seals, in precision measuring instruments, and in thermostat rods. In different concentrations, nickel-iron alloys are also used in electronic memory-storage devices, transformers and inductors.
Nickel-copper alloys are extremely useful in marine applications because they are highly resistant to corrosion by seawater, non-oxidizing salts and alkaline solutions.
Nickel-molybdenum alloys are used in high-quality pumps, valves, gaskets, pressure vessels, heat exchangers and piping products because they offer high chemical resistance to strong reducing acids such as hydrochloric acid, sulfuric acid and phosphoric acid.
Molybdenum is an extremely malleable, silvery-white metal which is highly resistant to corrosion and has one of the highest melting points of all pure elements — only the elements tantalum and tungsten have higher melting points.
Molybdenum is also an essential micronutrient found in various foods.
Because of their high resistance to scaling and electrical resistance, and a melting point of 1380 °C, nickel-chromium is the alloy of choice in resistance heaters such as toasters, electrical heaters, and nuclear reactors.
Valued for their stress-rupture endurance under high permanent load, and high acid corrosion resistance, nickel-chromium-iron alloys are important for prestressed structures and reinforced structures with a high permanent load such as petrochemical furnace cracker tubes, and as a material for sheathing electrical heating elements.
Offering the best acid-corrosion resistance, nickel-chromium-molybdenum alloys are used in pollution control stack liners, ducts, and scrubbers, as well as in chemical processing components such as heat exchangers, evaporators, or reaction vessels.
With the addition of metals like titanium and cobalt, super alloys are created with exceptional mechanical strength, strength-to-weight ratio, resistance to thermal creep deformation, surface stability, resistance to corrosion and oxidation, and the ability to operate at very high fractions of their melting points.
This makes them eminently suitable for aircraft, spacecraft, missiles, shipbuilding, offshore pipelines, and industrial furnace components.
Titanium has a fantastic strength-to-weight ratio, low density and the ability to withstand extremes of temperature.
Nickel-titanium alloy has super-elastic shape-memory properties, allowing it to regain its original shape when formed at one temperature and then deformed at a lower one and reheated. Specific applications include medical devices, and surgical applications such as joint/hip replacements, spinal fusions, specialised connectors, spectacle frames, and shock absorbers that provide earthquake resistance in historic stone buildings.
Applications for these alloys include industrial furnace components, gas turbines, and catalyst grid supports to produce nitric acid and fossil fuel.
Other nickel alloys include low expansion and magnetic alloys.
Angles, balls, pipes and pipe fittings, tubing, bars, billets, ingots, channels, coils, wire, rods, sheets, plates, strips, flanges, and forgings.
For further information on any of our Nickel Alloys, Titanium and Special Metals products please contact one of our Sales Representatives at +44 [0]161 278 2386.
Alternatively, contact us via our contact form; email sales@specialmetalalloys.co.uk; or on our website https://specialmetalalloys.co.uk