Machinability and manufacturing cost in low-lead brass
(2018) In International Journal of Advanced Manufacturing Technology 99(9-12). p.2101-2110- Abstract
Today, commercially used brasses commonly contain 2 to 4 wt% lead. As the availability of low-lead and lead-free brass increases, there are environmental incentives for investigating the consequences of replacing the lead-containing brasses with lead-free equivalents. Generally, lead-free brass is expected to have a lower machinability than its lead-alloyed counterpart, implying a higher manufacturing cost. Thus, the aim of this study has been to quantify the added manufacturing cost by replacing a standard brass alloy with a low-lead alternative. This was done through a case study performed at a Swedish SME which replaced CuZn39Pb3 (3.3 wt% Pb) with low-lead CuZn21Si3P (< 0.09 wt% lead) for a select part. Since CuZn21Si3P is almost... (More)
Today, commercially used brasses commonly contain 2 to 4 wt% lead. As the availability of low-lead and lead-free brass increases, there are environmental incentives for investigating the consequences of replacing the lead-containing brasses with lead-free equivalents. Generally, lead-free brass is expected to have a lower machinability than its lead-alloyed counterpart, implying a higher manufacturing cost. Thus, the aim of this study has been to quantify the added manufacturing cost by replacing a standard brass alloy with a low-lead alternative. This was done through a case study performed at a Swedish SME which replaced CuZn39Pb3 (3.3 wt% Pb) with low-lead CuZn21Si3P (< 0.09 wt% lead) for a select part. Since CuZn21Si3P is almost twice as expensive as CuZn39Pb3, the material cost was found to have a substantial influence on the manufacturing cost. Additionally, the lower machinability implied a longer cycle time and higher losses while machining CuZn21Si3P, resulting in a 77% overall increase in manufacturing cost when using the low-lead material. Arguably, the difference in material cost, and thus manufacturing cost, may decrease over time making production of low-lead and lead-free brass products a viable option, especially when considering the environmental incentive for decreasing the amount of lead in circulation.
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- author
- Schultheiss, Fredrik LU ; Windmark, Christina LU ; Sjöstrand, Stefan ; Rasmusson, Magnus and Ståhl, Jan Eric LU
- organization
- publishing date
- 2018-03-20
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- Brass, Lead, Machinability, Machining, Manufacturing cost
- in
- International Journal of Advanced Manufacturing Technology
- volume
- 99
- issue
- 9-12
- pages
- 2101 - 2110
- publisher
- Springer
- external identifiers
-
- scopus:85046025421
- ISSN
- 0268-3768
- DOI
- 10.1007/s00170-018-1866-4
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- a0b11bd2-0a87-4ec7-8b4b-5931c481e7ec
- date added to LUP
- 2018-05-14 09:34:39
- date last changed
- 2024-05-13 09:43:50
@article{a0b11bd2-0a87-4ec7-8b4b-5931c481e7ec, abstract = {{<p>Today, commercially used brasses commonly contain 2 to 4 wt% lead. As the availability of low-lead and lead-free brass increases, there are environmental incentives for investigating the consequences of replacing the lead-containing brasses with lead-free equivalents. Generally, lead-free brass is expected to have a lower machinability than its lead-alloyed counterpart, implying a higher manufacturing cost. Thus, the aim of this study has been to quantify the added manufacturing cost by replacing a standard brass alloy with a low-lead alternative. This was done through a case study performed at a Swedish SME which replaced CuZn39Pb3 (3.3 wt% Pb) with low-lead CuZn21Si3P (< 0.09 wt% lead) for a select part. Since CuZn21Si3P is almost twice as expensive as CuZn39Pb3, the material cost was found to have a substantial influence on the manufacturing cost. Additionally, the lower machinability implied a longer cycle time and higher losses while machining CuZn21Si3P, resulting in a 77% overall increase in manufacturing cost when using the low-lead material. Arguably, the difference in material cost, and thus manufacturing cost, may decrease over time making production of low-lead and lead-free brass products a viable option, especially when considering the environmental incentive for decreasing the amount of lead in circulation.</p>}}, author = {{Schultheiss, Fredrik and Windmark, Christina and Sjöstrand, Stefan and Rasmusson, Magnus and Ståhl, Jan Eric}}, issn = {{0268-3768}}, keywords = {{Brass; Lead; Machinability; Machining; Manufacturing cost}}, language = {{eng}}, month = {{03}}, number = {{9-12}}, pages = {{2101--2110}}, publisher = {{Springer}}, series = {{International Journal of Advanced Manufacturing Technology}}, title = {{Machinability and manufacturing cost in low-lead brass}}, url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00170-018-1866-4}}, doi = {{10.1007/s00170-018-1866-4}}, volume = {{99}}, year = {{2018}}, }