Phosphor bronze

Description

A hard, corrosion-resistant, bronze alloy. Phosphor bronze was first produced in Vienna about 1870. It contains copper (80-95%), tin (1-10%), small amounts of phosphorus (0.03-0.5%). It may also contain antimony (9-12%) for hardness or lead (10%) for ductility. The phosphorus acts as a deoxidizing agent and makes the bronze very corrosion resistant. Phosphor bronze is used in machine parts, electrical switches, springs, and tubing. It is the preferred bronze for use in marine environments.

Synonyms and Related Terms

steel bronze; bronze au phosphore (Fr.); Phosphorbronze (Deut.); fosfor brons (Ned.); bronze desoxidado com fósforo (Port.)

Authority

• Van Nostrand's Scientific Encyclopedia, Douglas M. Considine (ed.), Van Nostrand Reinhold, New York, 1976

• Random House, Webster's Encyclopedic Unabridged Dictionary of the English Language, Grammercy Book, New York, 1997

• The American Heritage Dictionary or Encarta, via Microsoft Bookshelf 98, Microsoft Corp., 1998

• Richard S. Lewis, Hawley's Condensed Chemical Dictionary, Van Nostrand Reinhold, New York, 10th ed., 1993

• G.S.Brady, Materials Handbook, McGraw-Hill Book Co., New York, 1971 Comment: p. 601

• Dictionary of Building Preservation, Ward Bucher, ed., John Wiley & Sons, Inc., New York City, 1996

• Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, at http://www.wikipedia.com Comment: phosphor bronze