Technical Papers and Notes - Institute of Metals Division - Electrical Properties of Cu-Mn-Al-In-Fe and Cu-Mn-Al-In-Ni-Fe Alloys

PREVIOUS work' on a four-component system (Cu-Mn-Ni-Fe) resulted in the development of consistent relationships between the chemical composition and the electrical properties of these manganin-type alloys. The present study was undertaken to develop alloys with temperature coefficients of resistivity and thermoelectric properties more desirable than those of the manganin type, and to determine whether the relationships which had been found for the Cu-Mn-Ni-Fe alloys could be extended to five-and six-component alloy systems. PREPARATION OF ALLOYS The five- and six-component alloys were made from OFHC copper rod, ARMCO iron, electrolytic nickel, manganese cathode chip, and special high-purity aluminum and indium. A Cu-Mg master was used for deoxidation. The compositions of these materials are given in Table I. The alloys were melted and cast as indicated previously,' except that no cover was used and the melts were teemed. EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURE The finished wire size of 0.0808 in. diam was again selected for the reason that the test specimens would be self-supporting, thus eliminating any extraneous effects which might have been introduced by winding smaller diameter wire on spools or forms. The following tests were performed on the finished wires: A) Chemical Analyses—All of the components of these alloys were determined by premium gravimetric methods. The principle residual impurity contained in these alloys is 0.008 pct Mg (by weight), maximum. Tables II and 111 present the mean analyses computed from at least four determinations of each constituent. B) Electrical Characteristics—The test procedures forthe determination of the thermal emf vs copper, resistivity, and the resistance-temperature relationship are given in detail in Ref. 1. It was also shown that the resistance-temperature relationship is of the form Pt = P,n + At -B/2, [1] where P, is the resistance at t C expressed in percent of a given standard resistance, P, is this per- 0 centage at 0°C, and A and B are constants for a given, properly treated, composition. The results of the electrical tests are also given in Tables II and 111. INTERPRETATION OF DATA The modified Linde2 formula, known to be valid for dilute binary solid solutions, was applied to the complex Cu-Mn-Ni-Fe type alloys. This relationship is of the form where Ap is the increase in resistivity. Zb the valence of the solute, Zn the valence of the solvent, and K and K are designations assigned by Robinson and Dorn3 to the constants for the periodic group to which solute element belongs. The units of K, are -cm per valence difference squared per at. pct; those of K2 are pa-cm per at. pct. For the sake of brevity, these units are not repeated in the following discussion. Calculations were made to determine if this formula was accurate for five-component systems. No experimental studies were made of the Cu-In and Cu-A1 binary systems. The effects of indium additions upon the resistivity of copper are given by Linde. These data, along with those of the effects of Mn and Fe, permitted the calculation of the effects of Al.