Copper Alloys is a global-leading, UK-based engineering entity in metallurgical development constantly setting the standard in creating custom metals for diverse clients. As demand for sustainable manufacturing increases –particularly for mechanical equipment, the company is spearheading further innovation to create more high-integrity metals. Managing Director Ben Turner spoke to Andy Probert.
Copper Alloys can trace its history back over a century. While it has changed hands and countries in that time, a culture of transition through innovation is deeply enmeshed in everything it does.
From its first castings made from nickelaluminium-bronze to support the war effort
in the 1940s through to the development of wrought nickel-aluminium-bronze in the 1980s, its higher specification replacement, wrought copper-nickel-chromium, was developed in the 2010s.
Seeking to develop next-generation wrought versions of advanced cast alloys, Copper Alloys has spearheaded
the drive to create ever more reliable and high-integrity metals: some alloys have become the specified standard for marine and naval defence applications, others are set to become the next standard as metallurgical development continues.
Forward-thinking
The Staffordshire company, which employs over 50 people including renowned scientists and metallurgists , has excelled at bringing innovative alloys to scale for industrial use.
“Our business has always been forward-thinking in metallurgy; constantly pushing the boundaries in the metals that are available, developing new material technology and making new metals more sustainable and reliable,” said Managing Director Ben Turner.
Today, Copper Alloys makes 248 different alloys, with thousands of specifications, and nine Elite Alloys TM , offering game-changing material technology at
every conceivable level for industry, and always fit for purpose.
Copper Alloys also excels at controlling process technology to increase the engineering potential of these custom metals, the machining of highly complex parts and mechanical assemblies of vast numbers of components. This concept of ‘integrated engineering’ – having the engineering and metallurgy controlled by the same organisation, – risk is mitigated to unprecedented levels in the production of complex machined forgings.
“Our approach is one of absolute quality,” said Mr Turner. “With everything we make, people’s lives are at stake if something goes wrong. Over the last decade, we have achieved a classleading approach to controlling quality, traceability and transparency.”
The company works in partnership with aerospace customers such as Airbus and BAE Systems. It manufactured thousands of critical components for the likes of
Rolls-Royce Submarines for the Astute-class submarines. It now supports Governments, OEMs and leading design engineers worldwide to make sustainable, high-quality solutions to demanding applications.
“We have a culture of continuous improvement and naturally gravitate to the extremes: we have parts on the Mars Rover, components on submarines in oceans, and everything critical in between,” Mr Turner continued. “The common denominator is the drive for complex metals that are of high value, highly challenging and non-standard material technology.
“Our metallurgists and engineers love the complexities and challenges: from food technology to offshore oil rigs, landing gear on aircraft, downhole tooling and submarine components. At our core is setting quality standards and doing things better. Integrity and trust are stamped on every material we create.”
Sustainability aims
To genuinely affect sustainability, Copper Alloys is committed to considering what things are made from. The material technology has to be up to the challenge
of lasting the lifetime of the application in which it is being used.
“Indeed, one of the many concerns that our employees have is the carbon footprint they leave behind and the sustainability of the industries in which they work,” said Mr Turner. “We have identified six key markets where our material technology can improve how mankind treats the Earth.”
Power generation is one such industry: Copper Alloys is engaged in a long-running collaboration on a full-scale nuclear fusion project in France, according to Mr Turner: “The concept is a man-made sun. We have supported the design of critical parts that manage magnetism for the free movement of the engineered metallic system. This is a key enabler for true sustainability.
“The approach we adopt with the UK’s Ministry of Defence, the US Navy and others is that we enable engineers to design things to last by giving them access to better material technology. The issue is that the demand for the application is increasing: aircraft must fly longer, submarines want greater uptime over a longer period. There are huge strategic implications for new materials being used.”
This has driven Copper Alloys to develop the ‘fit-and-forget” alloy CNC-1, a high-strength, tough wrought coppernickel-chrome alloy composition which exceeds specification requirements. It offers excellent ductility together with outstanding seawater corrosion resistance.
The MoD first developed this material in the 1990s as a replacement for nickel-aluminium-bronze in seawater systems on submarines due to corrosion issues. CNC can last the platform’s lifetime, showing excellent performance, negligible corrosion and up to 10 times resistance. The MOD abandoned the project due to the inability to break through the technology gap of reliably producing the material that could withstand the hot working, or forging processes.
“Copper Alloys picked this project up in 2009 after working on T1000, its strongest cupro-nickel alloy specified on boats and applications worldwide,” Mr Turner explained. “We applied the lessons from T1000 to CNC-1, and we
forged it in a similar way. The results were unbelievable
“One benefit of CNC-1 is that it is a singlephase alloy; it is stable from an anatomic and galvanic perspective and five times tougher than replacement metals.”
Industry setting
Copper Alloys’ advanced melting, alloying and casting techniques, combined with a deep metallurgical understanding of hot working materials, allowed it to develop two forged alloy versions: the ‘standard’ CNC-1 and a higher strength version, CNC-2, applicable to bars to around 150mm in section.
The company embarked on a collaborative project with the British Corrosion Institute to do a comparative analysis of different types of metals in the same environment. “There are 36 grades of metal used in marine altogether, and three different test comparatives were conducted: CNC-1 bridged all the gaps
and was game-changing,” said Mr Turner “It can last a boat’s lifetime and is five times tougher.”
The MOD standard was released in 2019 and put into the public domain for engineers to consider CNC-1 as an alternative to traditional alloys and metals.
Copper Alloys has presented CNC-1’s capabilities to over 1,000 engineers worldwide, according to Mr Turner: “The interest in adopting this alloy is overwhelming. We have alloys that combine high strength, high conductivity and high corrosion resistance, and they are all inherent, so these alloys are low risk from an engineering angle. That is uniquely sustainable: things can be designed simpler, less replacements needed and a lower burden on the environment.
“Innovation is never stifled at Copper Alloys.”
While making the metal and machining components, Copper Alloys is committed to closing the loop by recycling swarf and scrap generated in the machining process. It also designs components with better metals
that last much longer than traditional metals, helping reduce carbon emissions and the consumption of energy and resources.
The company has several projects ongoing: developing alternative metal alloys for safer extraction of potable water, supporting high efficiencies in food processing machines and developing technology to improve the efficiency of flight. “We have also worked with Unilever, Airbus, Rolls Royce and Shell to help them move their decision-making processes and give them greater options,” he added.
The company is on a mission to drive forward more Elite Alloys TM and challenge engineers to do more with them in critical engineering and positively impact the next generation to make better sustainable decisions.
In conclusion, Mr Turner said: “We are completely focussed on quality and want to make a difference because it’s our driven purpose to set global standards. More actions than words will only define sustainability in the long term.” n
