Page 3
Ag
Green Yellowish green Pinkish yellow Light green
Light brown
Greyish brown
Light yellow
Zn
Cu
Page 4
Basic Metallurgy
Immiscible: Ag/Ni
Page 7
Phase Diagrams
Phase diagram is like a road map for the behaviours of the alloys in different temperature and metal ratio. It gives very useful information to tell the behaviour of the alloys.
Immiscible
Partially miscible
Page 8
Phases in Alloys
A phase is a substance that is chemically & structurally homogeneous withi itself but is physically separated by definite boundary surfaces from other substances. If the metals are soluble to each other, they will form solution which is regarded as single phase. Too many phases in alloy will increase the hardness and reduce the ductility.
Page 9
Solidification of Metals
When the metals started to solidify, they will first form a nucleus. The crystal started to grow with crystalline structure. Grain refiner or just insoluble impurities can act as nuclei to stimulate the crystallization. The crystallites grow uniformly in all three directions until they meet the adjacent growing grains. The composition of crystallites may change during solidification known as coring. Fast cooling can suppress the coring and homogenize the composition.
Page 10
Jewelry industry has been using silver, brass and nickel to make the alloys for decades.
Modern master alloys have been developed for various applications according to the ways how they are handled. Some alloys are designed for hand-pouring and some are for machine-casting and machining purpose. Different additives are added in these master alloys accordingly. Careful selection is a must. Otherwise, undesirable defects will appear and consequently lower the productivity. Different karatages may sometimes need different alloys.
Page 12
5. Relatively expensive
5. Cheaper
Page 14
Flexible
Less machines involved Normally more labor intensive Alloys for this process is not necessary to be very ductile
Page 16
Treeing
Casting Burn-out
Page 18
Page 19
Page 20
Page 21
Sprue Position
5-6% shrinking in solidifcation of metals Solidified sprue will shut the opening Shrinkage porosity
Page 22
Trial 1
Trial 2
Trial 4
Trial 3
Best Result
Page 23
Page 24
Torch Melting
Fast, convenient and cheap Use only natural gas, LPG with compressed air Never use acetylene as it gives oxidizing flame The flame must always cover the melt during melting Causes oxidation problem
Not-consistent in massproduction
Page 25
Resistance Melting
Heat generated from electric resistance Longer heating time required ( higher risk in oxidation) Max. temperature of only 1100C No stirring effect Inhomogenous
Page 26
Induction Melting
The most advanced heating method With stirring effect No protection from oxidation Fast & convenient Relatively expensive
Page 27
Centrifugal Casting
- By centrifugal force
- For alloys with high melt temp. - Surface texture hard to control - Good for filigree items - Requires lower flask temp.
Page 28
Studies showed that casting result is more sensitive towards the flask temperature
- Too low flask temperature incomplete form-filling. - Too high flask temperature dendritic surface & gas porosity
Page 29
Page 30
Dendritic Surface
Page 31
< 520 C
Heavy
Bracelets
Page 32
Important
Page 33
Carbon soot
Incomplete Burnt-out
Complete Burnt-out
Page 34
Machining
By applying various deformation processes (e.g. Stamping, wiring, rolling, drawing, tubing, CNC cutting), the alloy is deformed to desired shape to make the jewelry. Highly automatic, machinery dependent and relatively less labour demanding. The unit production cost is low if large volume is made. Only suitable for big quantity production.
Page 36
Page 37
Wiring
Rolling
Rolling
Profiling
Stamping
Chain Knitting Stamping Etching
Tubing
Diamond Cutting
Solid Chains
Findings
Hollow Jewelry
Page 38
Equipment Quality
Page 39
Annealing
To restore the ductility of the alloy Achieved by annealing furnace or torch
Recrystalization
Page 41
Annealing Temp (C) 550 600 650 670 650 680 650 700 550 600
Temperature Color Very Dark Red Dark Red Cherry Red Cherry Red Very Dark Red
Reduction 70 80 % 60 70 % 60 70% 50 60 % 70 80 %
Page 42
Large Grains
Finer Grains
Page 43
Page 44
The alloys for investment casting are not suggested for machining purpose due to the presence of silicon or the investment inclusion
White gold should not have too much nickel, otherwise it becomes brittle due to nickel segregation. Prior to recycling the alloy, the oily substance must be removed by detergent or petroleum
The heavily recycled alloy should be avoided due to the content of unknown impurities
Page 45
Segregation of Ni
Au + Ni
Page 46
Etching
Etching is a process to remove the core The etching process depends on the cores used:
Improper etching will dissolve the gold alloy or attack the grain boundary rendering brittleness in the items
Complete removal of core is essential in order to meet the hallmarking.
Page 47
Oxidation
Oxidation happens in casting and annealing without covering gases. The presence of oxide can cause: - reduction of ductility - Formation of blisters - Formation of porosity
- Color change
The alloy must be covered with protective gas whenever heat applies
Page 48
Equipment Quality
Machining performance highly depends on the quality of equipment - Alignment of the rolls - Surface texture of the rolls
Page 49
Heavily recycled metals contain large amount of gaseous contaminants from gypsum or copper oxide
Page 51
Page 52
- ZnO
- Cu2O
Page 53
Page 54
Page 55
The more protection from oxidation during casting is, the less the silicon.
Page 56
Page 57
410C Ordering
Ductile
Brittle
Page 58
Page 59
Peeling
Caused by the excessive growth of crystal grains The alloy easily peels Factors favors large crystal grains
Page 60
Page 61
1st melt
2nd melt 3rd melt 4th melt 5th melt
20.2
13.0 20.2 26.1 90.0
16.5
46.1 72.2 119.0 178.7
Page 62
The hard spot has higher hardness than the bulk alloys. It resembles the stones on the muddy road.
Page 63
Possible Cause:
- The formation of nickel Silicide - The segregation of Si in Nickel
Page 64
Si dissolves in Ni
- Silicon has good solubility nickel - Dissolved in segregated nickel
Page 65
Ru, Ir, Os
Page 66
Page 67
Red-stain
Page 68
Recycling of Scraps
Page 70
I. If only 100% of old material is used, only 0.7% of the additive A in the alloy. The performance of the alloy may vary. II. If 50% of new material is added, the additive A level will be: 0.7% x 0.5 + 1% x 0.5 = 0.85% The change will be less significant and the performance and quality of the alloy can be maintained.
Page 71
For machined scrap, the scrap have to be washed with detergent or petroleum to remove all the geasy impurities.
The scrap is pickled in 15 20% dilute sulfuric acid to remove the oxide. The scrap is rinsed with water and dried. The scrap is clean to be recycling.
Page 72
Page 73
Deformed surface
Cut edge
Page 74
Page 75
Page 76
Page 77
Page 79
The melt loss is in fact not due to the loss of gold but the loss of master alloys. You give more gold to your customer.
Way to avoid the high melting or casting loss - Use protective gas to cover the melt to avoid the oxidation of alloys. - To avoid the high operational temperature, the evaporation of the alloys can be reduced. - To avoid using alloys with volatile elements such as Zn or Si.
Page 80
Page 81
To minimize this loss, the polishing has to be kept minimal by carefully adjust the operational temperature in casting or annealing.
Page 82
Page 83
Page 85
Page 86
Heraeus Indonesia & PT. Hemas are our partners for master alloys in Indonesia. They can give you almost the instant response whenever our clients have any requests.
Page 88
Page 89
Page 90
Page 91