Nickel and nickel alloys

Materials for high thermal and mechanical stress

Nickel alloys are essential for applications requiring high corrosion and temperature resistance – such as in the chemical, energy or watchmaking industries. They include:

• Pure nickel
• Binary alloys such as Ni-Cu, Ni-Si or Ni-Mo
• Ternary systems such as Ni-Cr-Fe, Ni-Cr-Mo
• High-performance superalloys

Pure nickel

Commercially available nickel (purity ≥ 99.6%) offers excellent corrosion resistance in reducing media. Nickel 200 (UNS N02200 / 2.4060 & 2.4066) in particular is known for its chemical resistance and good formability.

Nickel-copper alloys

Nickel and copper form a continuous solid solution without precipitation. These alloys can only be hardened by cold forming and are characterised by excellent corrosion resistance:

• Better than pure nickel in a reducing environment
• Better than copper in an oxidising environment

High-temperature-resistant nickel alloys

Alloys based on nickel-chromium, nickel-chromium-iron or nickel-molybdenum offer outstanding strength at high temperatures and very good media resistance.

The most important materials include:

• 2.4816 / NiCr15Fe (known as Inconel®) – ideal for thermal and mechanical stress
• 2.4819 / NiMo16Cr15W (Hastelloy® C-276) – proven in highly corrosive environments, e.g. with chlorides or acids