INTRODUCTION COPPER

Copper was the first metal humankind put into utilitarian service. Fabricated copper objects
dating to approximately 8500 B.C. place the probable origin of the metal’s use in Asia Minor,
although prehistoric artifacts can be associated with civilizations on almost all inhabited
continents. Copper is one of a few metals found in native (metallic) form in nature, and
early ‘‘products’’ were undoubtedly made from nuggets. A solid copper mace head, found
near Cata Huyuk, Anatolia (now Turkey), has been dated to 8000 B.C. Smelting is believed
to have begun in what is now Israel as early as 3600 B.C., and a vigorous trade in the metal
was well established within several hundred years. That prehistoric copper objects have
survived through millennia attests to the metal’s inherent chemical stability.1,2
Copper alloys appeared around 3500 B.C. in Mesopotamia, first, through the inclusion
of tin (ushering in the Bronze Age) and later zinc (for brass). The resulting alloys were
stronger than pure copper and were used for new applications, but the discovery of iron soon
supplanted copper alloys in such items as tools and weaponry. It was the introduction of
electricity in the nineteenth century that again brought copper into widespread use. Consumption
grew quickly, reflecting the rate of electrification and industrialization and, more
recently, the growth of global communications systems.
In 2003, worldwide consumption of refined copper was approximately 17.1 million short
tons and in addition, more than 3.5 million tons of scrap were taken up by manufacturers,
mainly for other-than-electrical products. The United States consumed more than 2.8 million
tons of refined copper that year, somewhat less than one-half of which was mined domestically.
Chile is the world’s leading copper miner, but the United States has ample resources,
and a newly discovered and extremely large orebody is currently under development in
Arizona.
The properties that drive copper and copper alloy use include high electrical and thermal
conductivities, favorable combinations of strength and ductility, ease of fabrication (machinability,
castability, and welding and joining properties), resistance to corrosion, and aesthetic
appeal. These properties are available in useful combinations through alloying and
heat treatment. In the United States in 2003, 58.3% of all copper consumed found its way
into electrical applications. Applications related to corrosion resistance (22.5%), heat transfer
(11.2%), structural properties (6.3%), and aesthetics (1.7%) accounted for the remainder. In
the future, a significant fraction of copper use might ensue from the metal’s intrinsic biostatic
properties. In terms of product form, wire and cable products make up 48.7% of total metallic
copper consumption; plumbing and commercial tube, 17.5%; rod, bar, and mechanical wire,
15.3%; strip, sheet, and plate, 14.2%; castings, 3.7%; and powder, 0.6%.3





COPPER AND COPPER ALLOYS
Konrad J. A. Kundig
Metallurgical Consultant
Tucson, Arizona
John G. Cowie
Copper Development Association
New York, New York



Mechanical Engineers’ Handbook: Materials and Mechanical Design, Volume 1, Third Edition.
Edited by Myer Kutz
Copyright  2006 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

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