Tungum alloy

The Tungum alloy is an alpha-brass of British origins. It has a passive oxide layer, which on exposure to reagents develops a very thin oxide coating. Tungum resists both stress and crevice corrosion in marine environments/atmospheres. This offers excellent service-life, even at intermittent duty in the highly corrosive ‘splash’ zone.

Tungum is non-magnetic and has non-sparking (electrostatic discharge) properties. This allows Tungum to be used in high pressure gas pipework systems (oxygen & inert gases).

Uncommon among copper alloys, Tungum alloy can be precipitation hardened using heat treatment techniques. This enables its physical properties to be modified as required to suit various applications.

Tungum alloy can be used for low temperature (cryogenic) applications.

Early records reveal that in the 10 years after the first world war Sidney Tungay , a metallurgist, was experimenting with a new copper based alloy which he hoped would look like gold when polished and which would be durable in everyday use.In an article in the 1934 British Trade Review, Tungum alloy was introduced thus –

‘Tungum is an alloy discovered by a well known metallurgist from whose name the alloy is derived. Experimenting with a view to finding a combination of metals suitable for a special purpose he had in view, he produced a compound which is known as TUNGUM. Recognising that its close likeness to 22 carat gold would make it a marketable commodity the inventor carried out a series of tests which satisfied him that he had discovered a wonderful alloy.’