ICA Press Releases on CuproBraze
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Fatigue Experiments Demonstrate Durability of CuproBraze Brazed Brass Joints,
says International Copper Association
Research by Luvata Verifies Superior Properties at Ambient and Elevated Temperatures
New York, New York (September 19, 2006) – The International Copper Association announced today that recent research at the CuproBraze Brazing Center provides convincing evidence that brazed copper-brass heat exchangers are more resistant to fatigue stresses than alternative materials at ambient and elevated operating temperatures.
Fatigue is the process by which cyclic loading weakens materials. It is a leading cause of failures of mobile heat exchangers, especially those made of brazed aluminum. Since fatigue failures cannot be readily predicted using material properties such as yield stress, special experiments must be performed to provide statistics models of fatigue failures.
A special apparatus was constructed to measure the kilocycles-to-failure of heat exchanger tube joints at various temperatures, up to several hundred degrees Celsius. Anders Falkenö of Luvata Sweden AB and his associates conducted extensive testing on components of brazed copper-brass, soft-soldered copper-brass, silver-brazed copper-brass and brazed aluminum heat exchangers. Comparisons were made of different combinations of tube brasses and filler materials at different temperatures, to determine the most durable products. The results show that brazed copper-brass components have much greater fatigue strength than their aluminum counterparts at the temperatures tested.
Select results of fatigue experiments were presented at the 2006 SAE World Congress conference and published in SAE Paper # 2006-01-0727, available from the Society of Automobile Engineers at www.sae.org. Information about the fatigue experiments is also available from the International Copper Association or on the Web site of the CuproBraze Alliance at www.cuprobraze.com.
For more information, contact the International Copper Association, +1 (212) 251-7245 or write to ICA at 260 Madison Avenue, 16th Floor, New York, NY 10016-2401.
The International Copper Association, Ltd. is the leading organization for the promotion of the use of copper worldwide. The Association’s twenty-nine members represent about 80 percent of the world’s refined copper output, and its six associate members are among the world’s largest copper and copper-alloy fabricators. ICA is responsible for guiding policy, strategy and funding of international initiatives and promotional activities. With headquarters in New York City, ICA operates in 28 worldwide locations through a network of regional offices and copper development associations.