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Machinability and manufacturing cost in low-lead brass

Schultheiss, Fredrik LU ; Windmark, Christina LU orcid ; Sjöstrand, Stefan ; Rasmusson, Magnus and Ståhl, Jan Eric LU (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
; ; ; and
organization
publishing date
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
2025-10-14 11:41:32
@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 (&lt; 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}},
}