EP3485049A1

EP3485049A1 - Copper-nickel-tin alloy, method for the production and use thereof

Info

Publication number: EP3485049A1
Application number: EP17736567.3A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Kai Weber
Original assignee: Wieland Werke AG
Current assignee: Wieland Werke AG
Priority date: 2016-07-18
Filing date: 2017-06-27
Publication date: 2019-05-22
Anticipated expiration: 2037-06-27
Also published as: DE102016008754A1; CN109477167B; KR102393772B1; KR20190029532A; CN109477167A; US20190300985A1; US20200277686A9; DE102016008754B4; JP7097824B2; US11035024B2; EP3485049B1; WO2018014991A1; JP2019524984A

Abstract

The invention relates to a high-strength copper-nickel-tin alloy with excellent castability, hot workability and cold workability, high resistance to abrasive wear, adhesive wear and fretting wear and improved resistance to corrosion and stress relaxation stability, consisting of (in weight %): 2.0 - 10.0 % Ni, 2.0 - 10.0 % Sn, 0.01 - 1.5 % Si, 0.002 - 0.45 % B, 0.001 - 0.09 % P, selectively up to a maximum of 2.0 % Co, optionally also up to a maximum 2.0 % Zn, selectively up to a maximum of 0.25 % Pb, the residue being copper and unavoidable impurities, characterised in that - the ratio Si/B of the element contents in wt.% of the elements silicon and boron is a minimum 0.4 and a maximum 8; such that the copper-nickel-tin alloy has Si-containing and B-containing phases and phases of the systems Ni-Si-B, Ni-B, Ni-P and Ni-Si, which significantly improve the processing properties and use properties of the alloy. The invention also relates to a casting variant and a further-processed variant of the high-strength copper-nickel-tin alloy, to a production method, and to the use of the alloy.

Description

description

Copper-nickel-tin alloy, process for their preparation and their

use

The invention relates to a copper-nickel-tin alloy with excellent castability, hot workability and cold workability, high resistance to abrasive wear, adhesive wear and fretting wear and improved corrosion resistance and

Stress relaxation resistance according to the preamble of one of claims 1 to 3, a process for their preparation according to the preamble of claims 9 to 10 and their use according to the preamble of claims 16 to 18.

Because of their good strength properties, their good

Corrosion resistance and conductivity for the heat and the electric current, the binary copper-tin alloys are of great importance in mechanical engineering and vehicle construction and in a wide range of electronics and electrical engineering.

This material group has a high resistance to abrasive wear. In addition, the copper-tin alloys ensure good sliding properties and a high fatigue strength, resulting in their excellent suitability for sliding elements in engine construction and vehicle construction and in general mechanical engineering.

The copper-nickel-tin alloys have, compared to the binary copper Tin materials improved mechanical properties such as hardness, tensile strength and yield strength. The increase of the mechanical characteristics is achieved by the hardenability of the Cu-Ni-Sn alloys. In addition to the importance of the ratio of the elements nickel and tin for the temperature, in which there is a spontaneous spinodal segregation in the Cu-Ni-Sn alloys, the precipitation processes are essential for adjusting the properties of this group of materials. The presence of discontinuous precipitates, particularly at the grain boundaries of the microstructure of the Cu-Ni-Sn alloys, is reported to be associated with a deterioration in dynamic stress toughness properties. Thus, DE 0833954 T1 proposes a spinodal Cu-Ni-Sn continuous casting alloy with 8 to 16 wt.% Ni, 5 to 8 wt.% Sn and optionally up to 0.3 wt. % Mn, up to 0.3 wt.% B, up to 0.3 wt.% Zr, up to 0.3 wt.% Fe, up to 0.3 wt.% Nb and up to 0 , 3 wt .-% Mg without kneading to produce. After carrying out a

Solution heat treatment of the cast condition and after the spinodal

After aging, the alloy must be rapidly cooled by means of water quenching in order to obtain a spinodally segregated structure without discontinuous precipitations. In the document DE 23 50 389 C is with respect to a Cu-Ni-Sn alloy with 2 to 98 wt .-% Ni and 2 to 20 wt .-% Sn executed against it, that a cold forming with at least a degree of deformation of ε = 75% must be performed to prevent the emergence of embrittling discontinuous

Eliminate excretions during outsourcing. In the document DE 691 05 805 T2, the difficulties are named, which occur in the industrial large-scale production of semi-finished products and components from the copper-nickel-tin alloys. Thus, the occurrence of Sn-rich segregations, especially at the grain boundaries of the cast structure, severely restricts the possibility of economic processing. The Sn-rich segregations, which can not be easily removed even by means of a thermomechanical machining of the cast state of the Cu-Ni-Sn alloys, prevent a homogeneous distribution of the alloying elements in the matrix. But this is a mandatory requirement for the hardenability of this group of materials. It is therefore proposed to finely atomize the melt of a copper alloy with 4 to 18 wt .-% Ni and 3 to 13 wt .-% Sn and to collect the spray particles on a collecting surface. A subsequent rapid cooling is intended to counteract the formation of Sn-rich Komgrenzrittsigerungen. From the document DE 41 26 079 C2 it is known that a number of

Copper alloys with the conventional method of ingot casting with subsequent hot forming and cold forming with intermediate annealing are not or only with poor efficiency to produce, because the

Hot forming due to grain boundary precipitates, segregations or other inhomogeneities is difficult.

These copper alloys also include the copper-nickel-tin materials. To ensure cold forming of the cast state of such alloys, therefore, a thin strip casting process with precise control of

Solidification rate of the melt recommended.

As a result of increasing operating temperatures and operating pressures in modern day

Engines, machines, plants and units are the most diverse

Mechanisms of damage to the individual system elements. Thus, there is an increasing need, in particular in the material-side and structural design of sliding elements and connectors, in addition to the Types of sliding wear also the mechanism of

Schwingreibverschleißschädigung to be considered.

The Schwingreibverschleiß, in technical language called Fretting, is a Reibverschleiß that occurs between oscillating contact surfaces. In addition to the geometry wear or volume wear of the components, the reaction with the surrounding medium leads to fretting corrosion. The

Material damage can significantly lower the local strength in the wear zone, in particular the fatigue strength. From the damaged component surface can go out Schwinganrisse, the

Cause oscillation breakage / frictional fatigue break. Under fretting corrosion can

Vibration of a component fall well below the fatigue strength index of the material. The Schwingreibverschleiß differs in its mechanism significantly from the types of sliding wear with one-way movement. In particular, the effects of corrosion in Schwingreibverschleiß are particularly pronounced.

From the document DE 10 2012 105 089 A1, the representation of the

Damage consequences of Schwingreibverschleißes of plain bearings out. To ensure a stable position of the bearings they are in the

Bearing seat pressed in. Due to the press-fitting process, a high tension is built up on the plain bearing, which is due to the higher loads, the thermal strains and the dynamic expansion

Shaft loads in modern engines is further increased. As a result of the voltage overshoot, geometry changes of the sliding bearing can occur, which reduces the original bearing projection. As a result, micro movements of the slide bearing relative to the bearing receptacle are possible. By this cyclic relative movements with a small oscillation width at the contact surfaces between the bearing and bearing mount it comes to Schwingreibverschleiß / Reibkorrosion / fretting of the slide bearing back. The result is the initiation of cracks and ultimately the Reibdauerbruch of the plain bearing.

The results of fretting experiments with various plain bearing materials indicate that especially Cu-Ni-Sn alloys with a Ni content above 2% by weight, as occurs in the spinodal-hardening copper-nickel-tin alloys, have an inadequate Have resistance to fretting wear.

In motors and machines, electrical connectors are often in one

Environment in which they are exposed to mechanical vibration movements. Are the elements of a connection assembly to different assemblies, due to mechanical stress

Perform relative movements to each other, so it can come to a corresponding relative movement of the connecting elements. These relative movements lead to a Schwingreibverschleiß and to a fretting corrosion of

Contact zone of the connectors. Microcracks form in this contact zone, which greatly reduces the fatigue strength of the connector material. A failure of the connector due to fatigue can be the result. Furthermore, it comes due to the fretting corrosion to an increase in

Contact resistance.

Decisive for a sufficient resistance against

Vibratory friction / Friction corrosion / Fretting is therefore a combination of material properties wear resistance, ductility and

Corrosion resistance.

In order to increase the wear resistance of the copper-nickel-tin alloys, it is necessary to add suitable wear carriers to these materials. These wear carriers in the form of hard particles are intended to protect against the consequences of abrasive and adhesive wear. As hard particles come in the Cu-Ni-Sn alloys different forms of precipitation into consideration.

In the document US 6,379,478 B1, the teaching of a copper alloy for connectors with 0.4 to 3.0 wt .-% Ni, 1 to 1 1 wt .-% Sn, 0, 1 to 1 wt .-% Si and 0.01 to 0.06 wt .-% P disclosed. The fine excretions of

Nickel silicides and nickel phosphides are said to provide high strength and good stress relaxation resistance of the alloy. To produce a sliding layer on a base made of steel, a copper alloy is named in US Pat. No. 2,129,197 A.

Contract welding is applied to the base body and 77 to 92 wt .-% Cu, 8 to 18 wt .-% Sn, 1 to 5 wt .-% Ni, 0.5 to 3 wt .-% Si and 0.25 to 1 Wt .-% contains Fe. As a wearer, the silicides and phosphides of the alloying elements nickel and iron should serve here.

From the document US 3,392,017 A is a low-melting

Copper alloy with up to 0.4 wt .-% Si, 1 to 10 wt .-% Ni, 0.02 to 0.5 wt .-% B, 0, 1 to 1 wt .-% P and 4 to 25 wt .-% Sn known. This alloy can be used in the form of cast iron as welding filler metal on suitable metallic

Substrate surfaces are applied. The alloy has improved ductility over the prior art and is machinable. Except for build-up welding, this Cu-Sn-Ni-Si-P-B alloy is for

Deposition can be used by spraying. The addition of phosphorus, silicon and boron is said to be the self-fluxing properties of

improve the molten alloy and the wetting of the substrate surface and make the use of an additional flux superfluous.

The teaching disclosed in this document writes a particularly high P content of 0.2 to 0.6 wt .-% at mandatory Si content of the alloy of 0.05 to 0.15 wt .-% before. This underlines the superficial demand for the self-flowing properties of the material. With this high P content, the hot workability of the alloy will be poor and the spinodal demixability of the structure will be insufficient.

According to the document US 4 818 307 A has the size of a

Copper-based alloy hard particles exerted a great influence on their wear resistance. Thus, complex silicide formations / boride formations of the elements nickel and iron reaching a size of 5 to 100 pm increase the wear resistance of a copper alloy containing 5 to 30 wt% Ni, 1 to 5 wt% Si, 0 , 5 to 3 wt .-% B and 4 to 30 wt .-% Fe considerably. The element tin is not included in this material. This material is by means of build-up welding on a suitable substrate as

Wear protection layer applied.

The document US Pat. No. 5,004,581 A describes the same copper alloy as the aforementioned US Pat. No. 4,818,307 A with an additional content of tin im

Content range of 5 to 15 wt .-% and / or of zinc in the content range of 3 to 30 wt .-%. The addition of Sn and / or zinc in particular increases the resistance of the material to adhesive wear. This material is also applied by deposition welding on a suitable substrate as a wear protection layer.

However, the copper alloy according to the documents US Pat. No. 4,818,307 A and US Pat. No. 5,004,581 A will have only a very limited cold workability due to the required size of the silicide formations / boride formations of the elements nickel and iron of 5 to 100 .mu.m.

The disclosure of a precipitation-hardenable copper-nickel-tin alloy is disclosed in US Pat. No. 5,041,176 A. This copper base alloy contains 0.1 to 10 wt .-% Ni, 0.1 to 10 wt .-% Sn, 0.05 to 5 wt .-% Si, 0.01 to 5 wt .-% Fe and 0.0001 to 1 % By weight of boron. This material has a content of disperse-distributed intermetallic phases of the system Ni-Si. The properties of the alloy are also explained in embodiments which have no Fe content.

In the document KR 0 2002 0 008 710 A (Abstract), it is stated that spinodal Cu-Ni-Sn alloys with an Sn content greater than 6% by weight are not thermoformable. As a reason, Sn-rich segregations to the

Grain boundaries of the cast structure of Cu-Ni-Sn alloys indicated. Therefore, for the disclosed Cu-Ni-Sn multi-alloy for high strength wires and sheets, the composition becomes 1 to 8 wt% Ni, 2 to 6 wt% Sn, and 0.1 to 5 wt% of two or more Elements of the group AI, Si, Sr, Ti and B indicated.

From the patent US 5 028 282 A is the disclosure of a copper alloy with 6 to 25 wt .-% Ni, 4 to 9 wt .-% Sn and other additives with a

Content of 0.04 to 5 wt .-% (individually or together). These others

Additions are (in% by weight):

0.03 to 4% Zn, 0.01 to 0.2% Zr,

0.03 to 1.5% Mn, 0.03 to 0.7% Fe,

0.03 to 0.5% Mg, 0.01 to 0.5% P,

0.03 to 0.7% Ti, 0.001 to 0.1% B,

0.03 to 0.7% Cr, 0.01 to 0.5% Co.

It is stated that the alloying elements Zn, Mn, Mg, P and B for

Deoxidation of the melt of the alloy can be added. The elements Ti, Cr,

Zr, Fe and Co have a grain-refining and strength-enhancing function.

By alloying with metalloids such as boron, silicon and

Phosphorus manages the processing-technologically important reduction of the relative high base melt temperature. Therefore, the use of these alloying additives is particularly in the field of wear-resistant

Coating materials and high-temperature materials, which include, for example, the alloys of the systems Ni-Si-B and Ni-Cr-Si-B. In these

In particular, the alloying elements boron and silicon are responsible for the strong lowering of the melting temperature of nickel base age alloys

Nickel base age alloys becomes possible. In the patent application DE 20 33 744 B important information on a further function of the alloying element boron in Si-containing metallic melts are included. Accordingly, an addition of boron causes a disruption of the oxides forming in the melt and the formation of boron silicates, which rise to the surface of the coating layers and thus prevent the further access of oxygen. In this way, a smooth surface of the coating layer can be realized.

In the document DE 102 08 635 B4 the processes are in one

Diffusionslötstelle described, are present in the intermetallic phases. By diffusion soldering parts with a different thermal

Expansion coefficients are interconnected. at

thermomechanical loading of this solder joint or during the soldering process itself, large voltages occur at the interfaces, which can lead to cracks, especially in the vicinity of the intermetallic phases. As a remedy, a mixing of the solder components with particles is proposed, the one

Balancing the different expansion coefficients of the joining partners cause. Thus, particles of boron silicates or phosphorus silicates due to their advantageous thermal expansion coefficients

minimize thermo-mechanical stress in the solder joint. In addition, spreading of the already induced cracks by these particles is hindered. In the patent application DE 24 40 010 B, the influence of the element boron in particular on the electrical conductivity of a silicon casting alloy with 0.1 to 2.0 wt .-% boron and 4 to 14 wt .-% iron is highlighted. In this Si-based alloy, a refractory Si-B phase, referred to as silicon boride, precipitates.

The SiB ₃ , SiB ₄ , SiB ₆ and / or SiB _n silicon borides, which are usually determined in the boron content, differ in their properties

Properties substantially of silicon. These silicon borides have a metallic character, which is why they are electrically conductive. They have an extremely high temperature resistance and oxidation resistance. The preferred modification of SiB ₆ used for sintering products is because of their very high hardness and high abrasive wear resistance

used for example in ceramic production and ceramic processing.

The usual wear-resistant hard alloys for

Surface coating consists of a relatively ductile matrix of the metals iron, cobalt and nickel with incorporated silicides and bonded hard particles (Knotek, O. Lugscheider, E., Reimann, H .: A contribution to the

Assessment of wear-resistant nickel-boron-silicon hard alloys. Zeitschrift für Werkstofftechnik 8 (1977) 10, p. 331-335). On the increase of

Wear resistance by these hard particles is due to the broad application of the hard alloys of the systems Ni-Cr-Si, Ni-Cr-B, Ni-B-Si and Ni-Cr-B-Si. The Ni-B-Si alloys contain not only the silicides Ni _β Si and Ni ₅ Si ₂ but also the borides Ni ₃ B and the Ni-Si borides / Ni silicoborides Ni ₆ Si 2 B. Also, a certain inertia of the silicide formation in the presence of the element boron is reported. Further investigations of the alloy system Ni-B-Si led to the detection of the refractory Ni-Si-borides Ni ₆ Si 2 B and Ni _4, 29Si 2 Bi, 43 (Lugscheider, E.;

Reimann, H.; Knotek, O .: The ternary system nickel-boron-silicon. Monatshefte für Chemie 106 (1975) 5, p. 1 155-1 165). These refractory Ni-Si borides exist in a relatively large homogeneity region towards boron and silicon.

In many applications, the element zinc is added to the copper-nickel-tin alloys to lower the metal price. Functionally, the alloying element zinc causes the stronger formation of Sn-rich or Ni-Sn-rich phases from the melt. In addition, zinc enhances the formation of the

Precipitants in the spinodal Cu-Ni-Sn alloys. Furthermore, in many applications, a certain Pb content is also added to the copper-nickel-tin alloys to improve runflat properties and to improve machinability.

The invention has for its object to provide a high-strength copper-nickel-tin alloy, over the entire range of nickel content and tin content of 2 to 10 wt .-% each an excellent

Has hot workability. For the hot forming a starting material should be used, which without the compelling need to carry out the spray compacting or the thin strip casting by means of conventional

Casting process was prepared.

The copper-nickel-tin alloy after casting should be free of gas pores and shrinkage pores and stress cracks and by a structure with

uniform distribution of the tin-enriched phase components. In addition, intermetallic phases should already be present in the microstructure of the copper-nickel-tin alloy after casting. This is important so that the alloy already has a high strength, a high hardness and a sufficient wear resistance in the cast state.

Furthermore, the casting condition should already be high

Distinguish corrosion resistance. The cast state of the copper-nickel-tin alloy should not first be homogenized by means of a suitable annealing treatment to a

be able to produce sufficient hot workability. With regard to the processing properties of the copper-nickel-tin alloy, on the one hand, the goal is that their cold workability does not significantly deteriorate in spite of the content of intermetallic phases with respect to the conventional Cu-Ni-Sn alloys. On the other hand, for the alloy should

Demand for a minimum degree of deformation of the performed cold forming omitted. This is considered in the prior art as a prerequisite to ensure a spinodal segregation of the structure of the Cu-Ni-Sn materials without the formation of discontinuous precipitates can.

Another requirement for the further processing of Cu-Ni-Sn materials, which correspond to the prior art, refers to the

Cooling speed after removal of the materials. Thus, it is considered necessary to rapidly cool the materials by means of water quenching after the spinodal removal, in order to obtain a spinodally segregated structure without discontinuous precipitations. Since, however, dangerous residual stresses can form as a result of this cooling method after the removal, the invention is based on the further object of preventing the formation of discontinuous precipitates during the entire production process, including the aging, on the alloy side. By means of a further processing, which comprises at least one annealing or at least one hot forming and / or cold forming together with at least one annealing, is a fine-grained, hard particle-containing structure with high strength, high heat resistance, high hardness, high stress relaxation resistance and corrosion resistance, sufficient electrical conductivity and a high Level of resistance to the mechanisms of Sliding wear and the Schwingreibverschleißes set.

The invention is with respect to a copper-nickel-tin alloy by the

Characteristics according to one of claims 1 to 3, with respect to a

Manufacturing method by the features of claims 9 to 10 and reproduced for use by the features of claims 16 to 18. The other dependent claims relate to advantageous embodiments and further developments of the invention. The invention includes a high strength copper-nickel-tin alloy having excellent castability, hot workability and cold workability

Resistance to abrasive wear, adhesive wear and tear

Fretting wear as well as improved corrosion resistance and

Stress relaxation resistance consisting of (in% by weight):

2.0 to 10.0% Ni,

2.0 to 10.0% Sn,

0.01 to 1.5% Si,

0.002 to 0.45% B,

0.001 to 0.09% P,

optionally up to a maximum of 2.0% Co,

optionally up to a maximum of 2.0% Zn,

optionally up to a maximum of 0.25% Pb,

Remaining copper and unavoidable impurities,

characterized,

- that the ratio Si / B of the elemental contents in wt .-% of the elements silicon and boron is a minimum of 0.4 and a maximum of 8;

- That the copper-nickel-tin alloy contains Si-containing and B-containing phases and phases of the systems Ni-Si-B, Ni-B, Ni-P and Ni-Si, which the

Significantly improve the processing and service properties of the alloy. In addition, the invention includes a high-strength copper-nickel-tin alloy, with excellent castability, hot workability and

Cold formability, high resistance to abrasive wear, adhesive wear and fretting wear, and improved

Corrosion resistance and stress relaxation resistance, consisting of (in% by weight):

2.0 to 10.0% Ni,

2.0 to 10.0% Sn,

0.01 to 1.5% Si,

0.002 to 0.45% B,

0.001 to 0.09% P,

optionally up to a maximum of 2.0% Co,

optionally up to a maximum of 2.0% Zn,

optionally up to a maximum of 0.25% Pb,

Remaining copper and unavoidable impurities,

characterized,

- That after casting in the alloy, the following structural constituents are present: a) An Si-containing and P-containing metallic matrix with, based on the

Overall structure,

a1) up to 35% by volume of first phase constituents, with the molecular formula

CU _h Ni _k Sn _m can be given and a ratio (h + k) / m of

Have element contents in atomic% of 2 to 6,

a2) up to 15% by volume of second phase components associated with the

Molar formula Cu _p Ni _r Sn _s can be given and a ratio (p + r) / s of the element contents in atomic% of 10 to 15 and have

a3) a balance of copper mixed crystal;

b) phases which, relative to the total structure,

b1) with 0.01 to 10% by volume as Si-containing and B-containing phases, b2) with 1 to 15% by volume as Ni-Si-borides with the empirical formula Ni _x Si ₂ B with x = 4 to 6,

b3) with 1 to 15% by volume as Ni borides,

b4) with 1 to 5% by volume as Ni phosphides,

b5) containing 1 to 5% by volume as Ni silicides in the microstructure,

which are present individually and / or as addition compounds and / or mixed compounds and are coated with tin and / or the first phase constituents and / or the second phase constituents;

- That when casting the Si-containing and B-containing phases, which as

Silicon borides are formed, the Ni-Si borides and the Ni borides, Ni phosphides and Ni silicides, which are present individually and / or as addition compounds and / or mixed compounds, germs for a uniform

Represent crystallization during the solidification / cooling of the melt, so that the first phase components and / or the second phase components are distributed uniformly and / or net-like uniform in the structure;

- That the Si-containing and B-containing phases, which are formed as boron silicates and / or Borphosphorsilikate, take over together with the phosphorus silicates the role of a wear-protective and corrosion-protective coating on the semi-finished products and components of the alloy.

Advantageously, the first phase constituents and / or the second phase constituents are contained with at least 1% by volume in the cast structure of the alloy. Due to the uniform distribution of the first phase components and / or the second phase components in island form and / or in network form, the structure is free of segregations. Among such segregations are accumulations of the first phase components and / or the second phase components in the

Understood cast structure, which are designed as grain boundary segregations, which under thermal and / or mechanical stress of the casting cause damage to the structure in the form of cracks, which can lead to breakage. The structure is still free of water after casting

Gas pores, shrinkage pores, stress cracks and discontinuous

Precipitations of the system (Cu, Ni) -Sn.

In this variant, the alloy is in the cast state.

Furthermore, the invention includes a high-strength copper-nickel-tin alloy, with excellent castability, hot workability and

Corrosion resistance and stress relaxation resistance, consisting of

(in% by weight):

2.0 to 10.0% Ni,

2.0 to 10.0% Sn,

0.01 to 1.5% Si,

0.002 to 0.45% B,

0.001 to 0.09% P,

optionally up to a maximum of 2.0% Co,

optionally up to a maximum of 2.0% Zn,

optionally up to a maximum of 0.25% Pb,

Remaining copper and unavoidable impurities,

characterized,

- That after further processing of the alloy by at least one annealing or by at least one hot working and / or cold forming together with at least one annealing, the following structural constituents are present:

A) A metallic matrix with, based on the total structure,

A1) up to 15% by volume of first phase constituents, which can be given by the empirical formula CU _h Ni _k Sn _m and a ratio (h + k) / m of Have element contents in atomic% of 2 to 6,

A2) up to 5% by volume of second phase constituents, which can be given by the empirical formula Cu _p Ni _r Sn _s and a ratio (p + r) / s of

Have element contents in atomic% of 10 to 15 and

A3) a balance of copper mixed crystal;

B) phases which, relative to the total structure,

B1) with 2 to 30% by volume as Si-containing and B-containing phases, Ni-Si borides with the empirical formula Ni _x Si ₂ B where x = 4 to 6, as Ni borides, Ni phosphides and as Ni -Silicides are contained in the structure, individually and / or as

Addition compounds and / or mixed compounds are present and of

Precipitates of the system (Cu, Ni) -Sn are sheathed,

B2) are contained in the structure with up to 80% by volume as continuous precipitations of the system (Cu, Ni) -Sn,

B3) containing from 2 to 30% by volume as Ni phosphides and Ni silicides in the structure, which individually and / or as addition compounds and / or

Mixed compounds are present, sheathed by precipitates of the system (Cu, Ni) -Sn and have a size of less than 3 pm;

- That the Si-containing and B-containing phases, which are called silicon borides

are formed, the Ni-Si borides and the Ni borides, Ni phosphides and Ni silicides, which individually and / or as addition compounds and / or

Mixed compounds exist, germs for a static and dynamic

Recrystallization of the microstructure during the further processing of the alloy, resulting in the setting of a uniform and fine-grained

Structure is made possible;

- That the Si-containing and B-containing phases, which are formed as boron silicates and / or Borphosphorsilikate, together with the phosphorus silicates take on the role of a wear-protective and corrosion-protective coating on the semi-finished products and components of the alloy. Advantageously, the continuous precipitates of the system (Cu, Ni) -Sn with at least 0.1% by volume in the structure of the further processed

Condition of the alloy included.

Even after the further processing of the alloy, the structure is free from

Seigerungen./ Such segregations are understood accumulations of the first phase constituents and / or the second phase constituents in the structure, which are designed as grain boundary segregations, which cause damage to the structure in the form of cracks, which can lead to breakage, especially under dynamic loading of the components.

The structure of the alloy is free of gas pores, shrinkage pores and stress cracks after further processing. It should be emphasized as an essential feature of the invention that the structure of the further processed state is free of discontinuous precipitates of the system (Cu, Ni) -Sn.

In this second variant, the alloy is in the processed state.

The invention is based on the consideration that a copper-nickel-tin alloy provided with Si-containing and B-containing phases and with phases of the systems Ni-Si-B, Ni-B, Ni-P and Ni-Si becomes. These phases significantly improve the processability of castability, hot workability and cold workability. Furthermore, these phases improve the

Performance properties of the alloy by increasing strength and resistance to abrasive wear, adhesive wear and fretting wear. These phases additionally enhance the

Corrosion resistance and stress relaxation resistance as other useful properties of the invention.

The copper-nickel-tin alloy according to the invention can be produced by means of the sand casting method, mask casting method, investment casting method, full-cast casting method. Process, die casting process, lost foam process and chill casting process or by means of continuous or semi-continuous

Continuous casting process can be produced. The use of process-technically complex and cost-intensive

Forming techniques is possible, but represents for the production of

According to the invention copper-nickel-tin alloy no compelling

For example, the use of the

Sprühkompaktierens or thin strip casting can be omitted. The

Cast formats of the copper-nickel-tin alloy according to the invention can in particular over the entire range of Sn content and Ni content directly without the mandatory implementation of a

Homogenisierungsglühung be hot-formed, for example, by hot rolling, extrusion or forging. Furthermore, it is noteworthy that after chill casting or continuous casting of the formats from the

According to the invention, no expensive forging processes or upsetting processes at elevated temperature have to be carried out in order to weld, ie close, pores and cracks in the material. Thus, the processing restrictions that have hitherto existed in the production of semi-finished products and components made of copper-nickel-tin alloys are largely removed.

The metallic matrix of the structure of the copper-nickel-tin alloy according to the invention consists in the cast state with increasing Sn content of the alloy, depending on the casting process, from increasing proportions of tin

enriched phases, which are evenly distributed in the copper mixed crystal (α-phase).

These tin-enriched phases of the metallic matrix may be divided into first phase components and second phase components. The first phase ingredients can be of the empirical formula Ni Cu _h _k _m Sn indicated and have a ratio (h + k) / m of the element contents in atomic% 2-6 on. The second phase components can be used with the molecular formula

Cu _p Ni _r Sn _s are given and have a ratio (p + r) / s of

Element contents in atomic% from 10 to 15 on.

The alloy according to the invention is characterized by Si-containing and B-containing phases which can be subdivided into two groups. The first group concerns the Si-containing and B-containing phases, which as

Silicon borides are formed and can be present in the modifications SiB ₃ , SiB ₄ , SiB ₆ and SiB _n . The "n" in the compound SiB _n denotes the high solubility of the element boron in the silicon lattice The second group of the Si-containing and B-containing phases relates to the silicatic compounds of the boron silicates and / or borophosphosilicate.

In the copper-nickel-tin alloy according to the invention, the microstructure content of the Si-containing and B-containing phases, which as silicon borides and as

Borosilicate and / or Borphosphorsilikate are formed, a minimum of 0.01 and a maximum of 10% by volume.

The uniformly distributed arrangement of the first phase constituents and / or second phase constituents in the microstructure of the alloy according to the invention results in particular from the effect of the Si-containing and B-containing phases, which are formed as silicon borides, and the Ni-Si borides with the

Molecular formula Ni _x Si2B with x = 4 to 6, which are largely eliminated in the melt. Subsequently it comes during the

Solidification / cooling of the melt to precipitate the Ni borides preferably on the already existing silicon borides and Ni-Si borides. The totality the boridic compounds, which are present individually and / or as addition compounds and / or mixed compounds, serve during the further

Solidification / cooling of the melt as primary nuclei. In the further course of the solidification / cooling of the melt, the Ni phosphides and Ni silicides preferentially separate from the already present primary

Germination of the silicon borides, Ni-Si borides and the Ni borides, which are present individually and / or as addition compounds and / or mixed compounds, as secondary nuclei.

The Ni-Si borides and the Ni borides are contained in each case 1 to 15% by volume and the Ni phosphides and Ni silicides each having 1 to 5% by volume in the microstructure.

Thus, in the microstructure are the Si-containing and B-containing phases, which as

Silicon borides are formed, the Ni-Si borides with the empirical formula Ni _x Si2B with x = 4 to 6 and the Ni borides, Ni phosphides and Ni silicides individually and / or as addition compounds and / or mixed compounds before.

These phases are referred to below as nuclei. Finally, the element tin and / or the first crystallize

Phase components and / or the second phase components of the metallic matrix preferably in the regions of the crystallization nuclei, whereby the crystallization nuclei of tin and / or the first phase components and / or the second phase components are coated.

These crystallization nuclei encased in tin and / or the first phase constituents and / or the second phase constituents are referred to below as first-grade hard particles.

The hard particles of the first class have a size of less than 80 μm in the cast state of the alloy according to the invention. Advantageously, the size of the Hard particles of first class less than 50 pm.

As the Sn content of the alloy increases, the island-like arrangement of the first phase constituents and / or of the second phase constituents changes into a network-like arrangement in the microstructure.

In the cast structure of the copper-nickel-tin alloy according to the invention, the first phase constituents can assume a proportion of up to 35% by volume. The second phase constituents assume a proportion of up to 15% by volume. Advantageously, the first phase constituents and / or the second phase constituents are contained in the structure of the casting state of the alloy with at least 1% by volume.

As a result of the addition of the alloying element boron, an inhibited and thus only incomplete formation of the phosphides and silicides occurs during the casting of the alloy according to the invention. For this reason, a content of phosphorus and silicon remains dissolved in the metallic base of the cast state. The conventional copper-nickel-tin alloys have a relatively large solidification interval. This large solidification interval increases the risk of gas absorption during casting and, as a result, uneven, coarse, usually dendritic crystallization of the melt. The consequences are often gas pores and coarse Sn-rich segregations, at the phase boundary often shrinkage pores and stress cracks occur. In addition, with this material group, the Sn-rich segregations preferably occur at the grain boundaries.

By means of the combined content of boron, silicon and phosphorus, various processes in the melt of the alloy according to the invention are activated, which their solidification behavior compared to the conventional Significantly change copper-nickel-tin alloys.

The elements boron, silicon and phosphorus assume a deoxidizing function in the melt of the invention. By adding boron and silicon, it is possible to lower the content of phosphorus without lowering the intensity of deoxidation of the melt. By means of this measure, it is possible to suppress the adverse effects of a sufficient amount

Deoxidation of the melt by means of a phosphorus additive. Thus, a high P content would additionally expand the already very large solidification interval of the copper-nickel-tin alloy, resulting in an increase in the

Pore susceptibility and segregation susceptibility of this material type would result. The adverse effects of the addition of phosphorus by the limitation of the P content in the alloy of the invention on the

Range of 0.001 to 0.09 wt .-% reduced.

The lowering of the base melting temperature especially by the element boron as well as the crystallization germs lead to a reduction of the

Solidification interval of the alloy according to the invention. As a result, the cast state of the invention has a very uniform microstructure with a fine distribution of the individual phase components. Thus occur in the

alloy according to the invention, in particular at the grain boundaries, no tin-enriched segregations.

In the melt of the alloy according to the invention, the elements boron, silicon and phosphorus cause a reduction of the metal oxides. The elements are themselves oxidized, rising mostly to the surface of the castings and form there as boron silicates and / or Borphosphorsilikate and as phosphorus silicates a protective layer that protects the castings against gas absorption. Exceptionally smooth surfaces of the castings from the

alloy according to the invention, based on the formation of such Protective layer indicate. The structure of the cast state of the invention was also free of gas pores over the entire cross section of the castings.

In the context of the explanations given to the cited documents, the advantages of incorporating borosilicate and phosphorus silicate for the

Avoidance of stress cracks between phases with different coefficients of thermal expansion during diffusion soldering named.

A basic idea of the invention consists in the transfer of the effect of boron silicates, boron phosphorsilicates and phosphorus silicates with respect to the

Matching the different thermal expansion coefficients of

Joining partners in diffusion soldering to the processes during casting,

Hot forming and thermal treatment of the copper-nickel-tin materials. Due to the wide solidification interval of these alloys, it comes between the staggered Sn-poor and Sn-rich

Structural areas to large mechanical stresses that can lead to cracks and pores. Furthermore, these damage characteristics can also occur in the hot forming and the high-temperature annealing of the copper-nickel-tin alloys due to the different hot working behavior and the different thermal expansion coefficient of the Sn-poor and Sn-rich structural components.

The combined addition of boron, silicon and phosphorus to the

Copper-nickel-tin alloy according to the invention causes on the one hand during the solidification of the melt by means of the action of the crystallization nuclei a structure with a uniform island-shaped and / or reticular distribution of the first phase constituents and / or the second phase constituents of the metallic matrix. In addition to the crystallization nuclei, the Si-containing and B-containing phases which form during the solidification of the melt and which form borosilicates and / or borophosphorus silicates ensure this are, together with the phosphorus silicates the necessary adjustment of the thermal expansion coefficients of the first phase components and / or the second phase components and the copper mixed crystal of the metallic base material. In this way, the formation of pores as well

Prevents stress cracks between the phases with different Sn content.

The alloy content of the copper-nickel-tin alloy according to the invention furthermore causes a significant change in the grain structure in the cast state. Thus, it could be established that a substructure with a grain size of the subgrains of less than 30 μm is formed in the primary cast structure.

Alternatively, the alloy according to the invention may be subjected to further processing by annealing or by hot working and / or cold working together with at least one annealing.

One possibility of further processing of the copper-nickel-tin alloy according to the invention consists of the castings by means of at least one

Cold forming together with at least one annealing in the final form with the

to transfer requirements-oriented properties.

Due to the uniform cast structure and the hard particles of first class precipitated therein, the alloy according to the invention already has a high strength in the cast state. The castings thus have a lower cold workability, which makes economic processing difficult. For this reason, the implementation of a

Homogenisierungsglühung the moldings before cold working proved to be advantageous. To ensure the outsourcing capability of the invention has a accelerated cooling after the Homogenisierungsglühprozessen proved advantageous. It has been shown that due to the inertia of the excretory mechanisms and segregation mechanisms in addition to a water quenching and cooling methods with a lower

Cooling speed can be used. Thus, the use of accelerated air cooling has also proved to be practicable to lower to a sufficient degree the hardness-increasing and strength-increasing effect of the precipitation processes and segregation processes in the microstructure during the homogenization annealing of the invention.

The outstanding effect of the nucleation nuclei for the recrystallization of the microstructure of the invention can be seen in the microstructure which, after cold working, can be adjusted by means of annealing in the temperature range from 170 to 880 ° C. and an annealing time of between 10 minutes and 6 hours. The extraordinarily fine structure of the recrystallized alloy allows further cold forming steps with a degree of deformation ε of mostly over 70%. In this way, high-strength states of the alloy can be produced.

Through this made possible high degrees of cold work in the

Further processing of the invention can be particularly high values for the

Tensile strength R _m , the yield strength R _p0 , 2 and the hardness are set.

In particular, the height of the parameter R _p o, 2 is for the sliding elements and

Guide elements significant. Furthermore, a high value of R _p0 , 2 is a prerequisite for the necessary spring characteristics of connectors in electronics and electrical engineering.

Numerous references describing the state of the art in terms of processing and properties of the copper-nickel-tin materials refer to the need to maintain a minimum degree of cold working of, for example, 75% in order to prevent the precipitation of discontinuous precipitations of the system (Cu, Ni) -Sn in the structure to prevent.

In contrast, the structure of the alloy according to the invention, regardless of the degree of cold working remains free from discontinuous precipitates of the system (Cu, Ni) -Sn. Thus, it could be found for particularly advantageous embodiments of the invention that even at extremely small

Kaltumformgraden of less than 20%, the structure of the invention free of

discontinuous precipitates of the system (Cu, Ni) -Sn remains.

The conventional, spinodal de-mixable Cu-Ni-Sn materials are considered to be very difficult to not thermoformable according to the prior art.

The effect of the nuclei could also be observed during the hot working process of the copper-nickel-tin alloy of the present invention. Primarily the crystallization germs are for it

to blame that the dynamic recrystallization in the

Hot forming of the alloy according to the invention in the temperature range of 600 to 880 ° C favorably takes place. This results in a further increase in the uniformity and the fine grain of the microstructure.

Advantageously, the cooling of the semi-finished products and components can be carried out after the hot deformation of calmed or accelerated air or water.

As after casting, so could after hot forming of the

Castings are noted an exceptionally smooth surface of the parts. This observation indicates the formation of Si-containing and B-containing phases, which are formed as boron silicates and / or borophosphosilicate, and of phosphorus silicates, which takes place in the material during hot working. The silicates, together with the crystallization nuclei, cause a matching of the different thermal during hot forming

Expansion coefficients of the phases of the metallic base of the

Invention. Thus, the surface of the hot-formed parts and the structure, as after casting, were free from cracks and pores even after hot working.

Advantageously, at least one annealing treatment of the cast state and / or the hot worked state of the invention in the

Temperature range from 170 to 880 ° C with the duration of 10 minutes to 6

Hours, alternatively with a cooling of calmed or accelerated air or with water.

One aspect of the invention relates to an advantageous method for

Further processing of the as-cast or hot-worked condition or the annealed condition or annealed thermoformed

Condition, which includes the implementation of at least one cold forming.

Preferably, at least one annealing treatment of the cold-worked state of the invention may be carried out in the temperature range of 170 to 880 ° C for 10 minutes to 6 hours, alternatively with quenched or accelerated air or water cooling.

Advantageously, flash annealing may be performed in the temperature range of 170 to 550 ° C for 0.5 to 8 hours.

After further processing of the alloy by at least one annealing or by at least one hot working and / or cold forming together with

At least one annealing is formed precipitates of the system (Cu, Ni) -Sn preferably in the regions of the crystallization nuclei, whereby the crystallization nuclei are encased by these precipitates.

These sheathed by precipitates of the system (Cu, Ni) -Sn

Crystallization nuclei are referred to below as hard particles of second class.

As a result of the further processing of the alloy according to the invention, the size of the hard particles of the second class decreases in comparison to the size of the hard particles of the first class. In particular, with increasing degree of cold working, there is a progressive comminution of hard particles of the second class, since they can not support the change in shape of the metallic base material surrounding them as the hardest constituents of the alloy. The

resulting hard particles of second class and / or the resulting segments of the hard particles of second class have a size of less than 40 pm to even less than 5 pm, depending on the degree of cold working.

The Ni content and the Sn content of the invention are each within the limits of 2.0 to 10.0 wt%. A Ni content and / or an Sn content of less than 2.0% by weight would result in too low strength values and hardness values. In addition, the running properties of the alloy would be at

Slip stress insufficient. The resistance of the alloy to abrasive and adhesive wear would not meet the requirements. With a Ni content and / or a Sn content of over 10.0 wt .-%, the toughness properties of the alloy according to the invention would deteriorate rapidly, whereby the dynamic load capacity of the components is reduced from the material.

With regard to ensuring optimum dynamic load capacity of the components of the alloy according to the invention, the content of nickel and tin in the range from 3.0 to 9.0 wt .-% proves to be advantageous. In this regard, for the invention, the range of 4.0 to 8.0 wt% is particularly preferable for the content of the elements nickel and tin.

From the prior art is the Ni-containing and Sn-containing

Copper materials are known to increase the degree of spinodal segregation of the microstructure as the Ni / Sn ratio of the element contents increases in weight percent of the elements nickel and tin. This is valid for a Ni content and an Sn content from about 2 wt .-%. With decreasing Ni / Sn ratio, the mechanism of precipitation formation of the system (Cu, Ni) -Sn gets a higher weight, resulting in a decrease of the spinodal segregated

Part of the structure leads. One consequence is, in particular, a more pronounced formation of discontinuous precipitates of the system (Cu, Ni) -Sn with decreasing Ni / Sn ratio. Among the essential features of the copper-nickel-tin alloy according to the invention is the decisive reduction of the influence of the Ni / Sn ratio on the formation of the discontinuous precipitates in the structure. Thus, it has been found that in the structure of the invention largely

regardless of the Ni / Sn ratio and independently of the

Auslagerungsbedingungen not for the elimination of discontinuous

Excretions of the system (Cu, Ni) -Sn comes.

On the other hand, during further processing of the alloy according to the invention, continuous precipitations of the system (Cu, Ni) -Sn are formed with up to 80% by volume of the system. Advantageously, the continuous precipitations of the system (Cu, Ni) -Sn with at least 0.1% by volume in the structure of

further processed state of the alloy.

The effect of the crystallization nuclei during the solidification / cooling of the melt, the effect of the crystallization nuclei as recrystallization nuclei and the effect of the silicate-based phases for the purpose of wear protection and corrosion protection can only reach a technically significant degree in the alloy according to the invention if the silicon content is at least 0.01% by weight and the boron content is at least 0.002% by weight. If, on the other hand, the Si content exceeds 1.5% by weight and / or the B content is 0.45% by weight, this leads to a deterioration of the casting behavior. The too high content of crystallization nuclei would make the melt significantly thicker. In addition, reduced toughness properties of the alloy according to the invention would result.

Advantageously, the range for the Si content within the limits of 0.05 to 0.9 wt .-% is evaluated. The content of silicon from 0.1 to 0.6% by weight has proven particularly advantageous. For the element boron, the content of 0.01 to 0.4 wt .-% is considered advantageous. The content of boron has proven particularly advantageous from 0.02 to 0.3% by weight.

To ensure a sufficient content of Ni-Si borides and on Si-containing and B-containing phases, which are borosilicate and / or

Borphosphorsilikate are formed, has a lower limit of

Element ratio of the elements silicon and boron proved to be important. For this reason, the minimum ratio Si / B of the element contents is

Elements of silicon and boron in wt .-% of the alloy according to the invention at 0.4. For the alloy according to the invention, the minimum ratio Si / B of the element contents of the elements silicon and boron in wt.% Of 0.8 is advantageous. Preferably, the minimum ratio Si / B of the elemental contents of the elements silicon and boron in wt .-% of 1. For a further significant feature of the invention is the definition of a Upper limit of the ratio Si / B of the elemental contents of the elements silicon and boron in wt .-% of 8 important. Parts of the silicon are located after the

Casting dissolved in the metallic matrix as well as bound in the

Hard particles of first class.

During a thermal or thermomechanical further processing of the casting state, at least partial dissolution of the casting occurs

silicidic component of hard particles of first class. This increases the Si content of the metallic matrix. If this exceeds an upper one

Limit, it comes to the excretion of an excessive proportion of Ni silicides with increasing size. These would significantly the

Reduce cold workability of the invention.

For this reason, the maximum ratio Si / B of the element contents of the elements silicon and boron in wt .-% of the alloy according to the invention at 8. By this measure, it is possible, the size of forming during a thermal or thermomechanical processing of the cast state of the alloy Ni -Silizide lower than 3 pm. Furthermore, this limits the content of Ni silicides. In this regard, the limitation of the ratio Si / B of the element contents of the elements silicon and boron in% by weight to the maximum value of 6 has proven particularly advantageous.

The excretion of the crystallization nuclei influences the viscosity of the

Melt of the alloy according to the invention. This circumstance underlines why it is not necessary to dispense with the addition of phosphorus. Phosphorus causes the melt sufficient despite the crystallization nuclei

is fluid, which is of great importance for the pourability of the invention. The content of phosphorus of the alloy according to the invention is 0.001 to 0.09 wt .-%. Below 0.001 wt.%, The P content no longer contributes to ensuring sufficient castability of the invention. If the phosphorus content of the alloy assumes values above 0.09% by weight, on the one hand an excessively high Ni content is bound in the form of phosphides, which reduces the spinodal separability of the microstructure. On the other hand, with a P content above 0.09% by weight, the hot workability of the invention would be significantly impaired. For this reason, a P content of 0.01 to 0.09 wt .-% has proven to be particularly advantageous. Preferred is a P content in the range of 0.02 to 0.08 wt%.

The alloying element phosphorus is of very great importance for another reason. Together with the required maximum

Ratio Si / B of the elemental contents of the elements silicon and boron in wt.% Of 8 is attributable to the phosphorus content of the alloy, that after further processing of the invention, Ni phosphides and Ni silicides which are used individually and / or as addition compounds and / or mixed compounds are present and are coated by precipitates of the system (Cu, Ni) -Sn, can form with a size of not more than 3 pm and with a content of 2 to 30% by volume in the structure.

These Ni phosphides and Ni silicides which are used individually and / or as

Addition compounds and / or mixed compounds are present from

Excretions of the system (Cu, Ni) -Sn are coated and have a size of a maximum of 3 pm, are referred to below as hard particles of the third class.

The hard particles of third class possess in the structure of the processed

State of the most preferred embodiment of the invention even a size of less than 1 pm. On the one hand, these hard particles of the third class supplement the hard particles of the second class in their function as wear carriers. Thus, they increase the strength and hardness of the metallic matrix and thus improve the resistance of the alloy to abrasive wear. On the other hand, the third-class hard particles increase the resistance of the alloy to the adhesive wear. Finally, these hard particles of third class cause a significant increase in the heat resistance and the

Stress relaxation resistance of the alloy according to the invention. This is an important prerequisite for the use of the invention

Alloy especially for sliding elements and components and

Connecting elements in electronics / electrical engineering dar.

Due to the content of hard particles of first class in the structure of the

Cast state and hard particles second and third class in the structure of the processed state, the alloy according to the invention has the character of a precipitation hardenable material. Advantageously, the invention corresponds to a precipitation hardenable and spinodal

de-mixable copper-nickel-tin alloy. The sum of the element contents of the elements silicon, boron and phosphorus is advantageously at least 0.2% by weight.

In the cast variant and in the further developed variant of the

alloy according to the invention may contain the following choice elements:

The element cobalt can be added to the copper-nickel-tin alloy according to the invention with a content of up to 2.0 wt .-%. As a result of

Similarity relationship between the elements nickel and cobalt and, due to the nickel-forming as well as boride-forming, boride-forming,

silicidally and phosphide forming properties of cobalt, the Cobalt alloying element can be added to participate in the formation of the crystallization nuclei and the hard particles of the first, second and third class of the alloy. Thereby, the Ni content bound in the hard particles can be reduced. In this way it can be achieved that the Ni content, effective in the metallic matrix for the spinodal

Segregation of the structure is available increases. With the addition of advantageously 0.1 to 2.0 wt .-% Co, it is thus possible to significantly increase the strength and hardness of the invention. The element zinc may be added to the copper-nickel-tin alloy according to the invention at a content of 0.1 to 2.0 wt .-%. It has been found that the zinc alloying element, depending on the Ni content and Sn content of the alloy, increases the proportion of the first phase constituents and / or second phase constituents in the metallic matrix of the invention, thereby increasing strength and hardness. Responsible for this are the interactions between the Ni content and the Zn content. As a result of these interactions between the Ni content and the Zn content, a decrease in the size of the hard particles of the first and second class was also found, which thus formed more finely distributed in the structure. Below 0.1 wt% Zn, these effects on the microstructure and mechanical properties of the invention could not be observed. At Zn contents above 2.0 wt%, the toughness properties of the alloy were lowered to a lower level. In addition, the corrosion resistance of the deteriorated

copper-nickel-tin alloy according to the invention. Advantageously, the invention can be added to a zinc content in the range of 0.1 to 1, 5 wt .-%.

Optionally, the copper-nickel-tin alloy according to the invention may have low, above the impurity limit Bleianteile up to 0.25 wt .-%. In a particularly preferred advantageous embodiment of the invention, the copper-nickel-tin alloy is unavoidable to any extent Impurities free of lead, which meets the current environmental standards. In this context, lead contents up to a maximum of 0.1% by weight of Pb are being considered. The formation of Si-containing and B-containing phases, which are formed as boron silicates and / or Borphosphorsilikate, and of phosphorus silicates not only leads to a significant reduction in the content of pores and cracks in the structure of the alloy according to the invention. These siliceous based phases also take on the role of a wear-protective and

corrosion-protective coating on the components.

During the adhesive stress of a component made of the copper-nickel-tin alloy according to the invention, the alloying element tin contributes in particular to the formation of a so-called tribo layer between the sliding partners. Especially under mixed friction conditions, this mechanism is significant when the emergency running characteristics of a

Material increasingly in the foreground. The tribo layer leads to the reduction of the purely metallic contact surface between the sliding partners, whereby a welding or seizing of the elements is prevented!

Due to the increase in efficiency of modern engines, machines and units, ever higher operating pressures and operating temperatures occur. This is particularly noticeable in the newly developed internal combustion engines, which are working towards ever more complete combustion of the fuel. In addition to the increased temperatures in the room

Internal combustion engines are still the heat that occur during operation of the plain bearing systems. As a result of the high temperatures in the bearing operation, it comes in the parts of the alloy according to the invention, similar to the casting and during hot forming, to the formation of Si-containing and B-containing phases, which as boron silicates and / or Borphosphorsilikate are formed, and of phosphorus silicates. These

Compounds still reinforce the tribo layer, which forms primarily due to the alloying element tin, resulting in an increased adhesive wear resistance of the sliding elements of the alloy according to the invention.

Thus, the alloy of the present invention ensures a combination of the properties of wear resistance and corrosion resistance. This combination of properties leads to a demand high resistance to the mechanisms of sliding wear and a high

Material resistance to fretting corrosion. In this way, the invention is outstandingly suitable for use as a sliding element and connector, since it has a high degree of resistance to sliding wear and the Schwingreibverschleiß, the so-called fretting.

In addition to the important contribution of the third-class hard particles to increase the resistance of the invention to the abrasive and adhesive

Mechanism of sliding wear, contribute the hard particles of the third class significantly to increase the fatigue strength. The third class hard particles, together with the second class hard particles, are obstacles to the

Spread of fatigue cracks, especially in the

Schwingreibverschleiß, the so-called fretting, can be introduced into the claimed component. Thus, the hard particles of the second and third class, in particular, supplement the wear-protecting and corrosion-protecting

Effect of Si-containing and B-containing phases, which are formed as boron silicates and / or Borphosphorsilikate, and the phosphorus silicates in terms of increasing the resistance of the alloy according to the invention over the Schwingreibverschleiß, the so-called fretting. The heat resistance and stress relaxation resistance are among the other essential properties of an alloy used for

Use is used where higher temperatures occur. To ensure a sufficiently high heat resistance and

Stress relaxation resistance becomes a high density of fine

Excretions considered beneficial. Such precipitates are in the alloy of the invention, the hard particles of the third class and the

continuous precipitations of the system (Cu, Ni) -Sn.

Due to the uniform and fine-grained structure with extensive freedom from pores, freedom from cracks and freedom from segregation and the content of hard particles of first class, the alloy according to the invention has a high degree of strength, hardness, ductility, complex wear resistance and corrosion resistance already in the cast state. Through this combination of properties, sliding elements and guide elements can already be produced from the casting formats. The casting state of the invention can also be used for the manufacture of valve housings and housings of water pumps, oil pumps and fuel pumps. In addition, the inventive

Alloy for propellers, wings, propellers and hubs suitable for shipbuilding.

For applications with a particularly strong complex and / or dynamic component stress, the processed version of the invention can be used. Due to the outstanding strength properties and the

Wear resistance and corrosion resistance of the copper-nickel-tin alloy according to the invention is another application possibility into consideration. Thus, the invention is suitable for the metal objects in constructions for the rearing of marine organisms (aquaculture). Furthermore, from the invention, pipes, gaskets and Connecting bolts are needed, which are needed in the maritime and chemical industry.

For the use of the alloy according to the invention for the production of percussion instruments, the material is of great importance. Especially

Cymbals of high quality have hitherto been made of tin-containing copper alloys by means of hot forming and at least one annealing, before they are usually brought into the final shape by means of a bell or a shell. The basins are then annealed again before their final machining takes place. The production of the different variants of the basins (e.g., Ride Basin, Hi-Hat, Crash Basin, China Basin, Splash Basin and Effect Basin) thus requires a particularly advantageous hot workability of the material ensured by the alloy of the invention. Within the range limits of the chemical

Composition of the invention, different microstructural proportions of the phases of the metallic matrix and the different hard particles can be adjusted in a very wide range. In this way it is already possible on the alloy side, to act on the sound of the pelvis. In particular, for the production of composite plain bearings, the invention can be used to be applied to a composite partner by means of a joining process. Thus, a composite production between discs, plates or bands of the invention and steel cylinders or steel strips, preferably from a tempering steel, by forging, soldering or

Welding with the optional execution of At least one annealing in the temperature range of 170 to 880 ° C possible. Likewise, for example, bearing composite shells or composite bearing bushes can be produced by roll cladding, inductive or conductive roll cladding or by laser roll cladding, also with the optional performance of at least one anneal in the temperature range of 170 to 880 ° C. As a result of the structure formation in the alloy according to the invention, there are further possibilities for the production of composite sliding elements such as bearing composite shells or composite bearing bushes. Thus, it is possible to apply to a base body of the invention by means of hot-dip tinning or galvanic tinning, sputtering or by the PVD method or CVD method, a coating of tin or of a Sn-rich material, which serves as a running layer during storage operation.

In this way, high-performance composite sliding elements such as bearing composite shells or composite bearing bushes as a three-layer system, with a bearing back made of steel, the actual bearing from the

alloy according to the invention and the running layer are made of tin or of the Sn-rich coating. This multilayer system has a particularly advantageous effect on the adaptability and running ability of the plain bearing and improves the embedding ability of foreign particles and abrasive particles, and it does not damage even by thermal or thermomechanical stress of the sliding bearing by a repeal of the composite layer system due to pore formation and cracking in the border region individual layers comes.

, ,

The great potential of the copper-nickel-tin materials, in particular with regard to strength, spring properties and stress relaxation resistance, can also be used for the field of application of tinned components, line elements, guide elements and connecting elements in electronics and electrical engineering by using the alloy according to the invention. Thus, by the structure of the invention, the damage mechanism of pore formation and cracking in the boundary region between the alloy according to the invention and the tinning is reduced even at elevated temperatures, whereby an increase in the electrical contact resistance of the components or even a replacement of tinning is counteracted. A machining of the semi-finished products and components from the

Conventional copper-nickel-tin wrought alloys with a Ni content and Sn content up to about 10 wt .-% is possible only with great effort due to the insufficient machinability. In particular, the occurrence of long filaments causes long machine downtimes because the chips must first be removed from the processing area of the machine by hand.

In contrast, in the case of the alloy according to the invention, the different hard particles serve as chip breakers. The resulting short shavings chips and / or random chips facilitate the machinability, which is why the semi-finished products and components from the cast state and the further processed state of the alloy according to the invention have a better machinability. An important embodiment of the invention will be explained with reference to Tables 1 to 10. Cast plates of the copper-nickel-tin alloy according to the invention and of the reference material were produced by continuous casting. The chemical composition of the casts is shown in Table 1. In Tab. 1, the chemical composition of the embodiment A and the reference material R is shown. Embodiment A is characterized by a Ni content of 6.0 wt%, an Sn content of 5.75 wt%, a Si content of 0.3 wt%, a B content of 0 , 15 wt .-%, a P content of 0.070 wt .-% and characterized by a balance copper. Of the

Reference material R, a conventional copper-nickel-tin-phosphorus alloy, has a Ni content of 5.78% by weight, an Sn content of 5.75% by weight, a P content of 0.032% by weight. -% and a remainder of copper.

Table 1: Chemical composition of embodiment A and the reference material R (in% by weight)

The structure of the continuous casting plates of the reference material R has gas pores and shrinkage pores and Sn-rich segregations particularly on the

Grain boundaries.

In contrast to the reference material R has the continuous casting of the

Embodiment A due to the effect of the crystallization nuclei a uniformly solidified, pore-free and segregation-free structure. The metallic base of the casting state of the embodiment A consists of a copper mixed crystal with, based on the total structure, about 10 to 15% by volume of inscribed first phase constituents, which can be specified with the empirical formula CU _h Ni _k Sn _m and a ratio (h + k) / m of the element contents in atomic% of 2 to 6 have. The compounds CuNii ₄ Sn ₂ 3 and CuNi ₉ Sn ₂ o with a ratio (h + k) / m of 3,4 and 4 were determined. In addition, in the metallic matrix with, based on the total structure, about 5 to 10% by volume of the second

Immersed island components in the form of an insulator, which can be given the empirical formula Cu _p Ni _r Sn _s and have a ratio (p + r) / s of elemental contents in atomic% of 10 to 15. The compounds CuNi ₃ Sn ₈ and CuNi ₄ Sn _{7 were} detected with a ratio (p + r) / s of 11, 5 and 13.3. The first and second phase components of the metallic matrix are predominantly crystallized in the region of the crystallization nuclei and encase them.

The analysis of hard particles of the first class in the as - cast state of the

Embodiment A gave hints on the compound SiB6 as a representative of Si-containing and B-containing phases, on Ni ₆ Si ₂ B as a representative of the Ni-Si borides, on Ni ₃ B as a representative of the Ni borides, on Ni ₃ P as a representative of the Ni phosphides and on Ni ₂ Si as a representative Ni silicides which are used individually and / or as

Addition compounds and / or mixed compounds are present in the microstructure. In addition, these hard particles are of tin and / or the first

Phase components and / or second phase components of the metallic matrix sheathed.

During the casting process of Embodiment A, a substructure was formed in the primary cast grains. These subgrains exhibit in the

Cast structure of the embodiment A of the invention, a grain size of less than 10 m. As a result of the subgrain structure and the hard particles precipitated in the microstructure of embodiment A of the invention, the hardness HB of the casting state with 156 is significantly above the hardness of 94 HB of the continuous casting of R (Table 2).

Table 2: Hardness HB 2.5 / 62.5 of the cast state and the state of alloys A and R at 400 ° C./3 h / air

Also shown in Tab. 2 are the hardness values which were determined on the continuous casting of alloys A and R at a storage time of 3 hours at 400 ° C. The hardness increase from 94 to 145 HB falls at the

Reference material R is the largest. The hardening is due in particular to a thermally activated segregation of the Sn-rich phase in the microstructure. The tin-enriched phase components are distinguished in the structure of the embodiment A much finer in the hard particles. For this reason, the hardness increases from 156 to 176 HB not so pronounced at.

An object of the invention is to maintain the good

Cold formability of conventional copper-nickel-tin alloys despite the incorporation of hard particles. To check the degree of achievement of this goal, the production program 1 was carried out according to Tab. 3. This production program consisted of a cycle of cold forming and annealing, whereby the cold rolling steps each with the maximum possible

Kaltumformgrad made.

Due to the high hardness of the cast state of the embodiment A, this was annealed at the temperature of 740 ° C with the duration of 2 hours and then accelerated accelerated in water. As a result, the properties of the cast state of A and R were approximated with respect to strength and hardness.

The achievable for the embodiment A cold working degrees ε of 60 and 91% emphasize that the alloy according to the invention despite the content of hard particles can reach the shape change properties of the conventional copper-nickel-tin alloy R and even exceed.

The temperature sensitivity of the reference material R with regard to the formation of the Sn-rich segregations was also evident in the annealing between the two cold forming steps (No. 4 in Tab. 3). For this reason, the annealing temperature of 740 ° C used for the intermediate annealing of the cold rolled plate of alloy A had to be lowered to 690 ° C for R.

Table 3: Production program 1 of strips of the continuous casting plates of the embodiment A and the reference material R No manufacturing steps

1 continuous casting plates of alloys A and R

2 annealing of the casting plate of the Leg. A: 740 ° C / 2h + water quenching

3 cold rolling:

Leg. A: from 1 1 to 4.35 mm (ε = 60%, <p = 0.9)

Leg. R: from 24.5 to 12, 1 mm (ε = 50%, φ = 0.7)

4 annealing:

Leg. A: 740 ° C / 2h + water quenching

Leg. R: 690 ° C / 2h + water quenching

5 cold rolling:

Leg. A: from 4.35 to 0.4 mm (ε = 91%, cp = 2.4)

Leg. R: from 12, 1 to 2.33 mm (ε = 81%, φ = 1, 6)

6 Storage: 300 ° C / 4h, 400 ° C / 3h, 450 ° C / 3h + air cooling

After the execution of the production program 1, the determination of the characteristic values of the bands of the materials A and R after the last cold rolling and after the outsourcing, which are listed in Tab.

It can be seen that the strengths and the hardness of the cold-rolled and the 300 ° C outsourced bands of the embodiment A are higher than the respective properties of the bands of the reference material R. Favored by the high content of hard particles, takes place from the temperature of approx. 400 ° C recrystallization of the structure of the alloy A instead. This recrystallization leads to a decrease in strength and hardness, so that the effect of the precipitation hardening and the spinodal segregation can not come to fruition.

In the structure of further processed embodiment A, the hard particles of the second class are contained after aging at 450 ° C. (denoted by 3 in FIG. 3). Furthermore, further phases have been eliminated in the structure of the further processed alloy A. These include those designated in Fig. 3 with 4 continuous precipitates of the system (Cu, Ni) -Sn and the hard particles of third class.

For the further processed alloy according to the invention, the size of the

Hard particles of the third class of less than 3 pm characteristic. It is for the further processed embodiment A of the invention after aging at 450 ° C even less than 1 pm (in Fig. 4 denoted by 5).

Table 4: Grain size, electrical conductivity and mechanical characteristics of the cold-rolled and aged strips of alloys A and R after

Going through production program 1 (Table 3)

■ = not yet completely recrystallized

In order to reduce the influence of the cold workability and the recrystallization temperature on the properties of the individual alloys, another production program was carried out. This production program 2 pursued the goal of processing the continuous casting plates of materials A and R into strips by means of cold forming and annealing, using identical parameters for the cold forming degrees and the annealing temperatures (Table 5).

Due to the high hardness of the casting state of the embodiment A, this was in turn before the first cold rolling step at the temperature of Annealed at 740 ° C for a period of 2 hours and then cooled accelerated in water.

Table 5: Production program 2 of strips from the continuous casting plates of the embodiment A and the reference material R

After the last cold rolling step to the final thickness of 3.0 mm, the bands of embodiment A have the highest strength values and hardness values (Table 6).

Due to the three-hour aging at 400 ° C falls due to the spinodal

Segregation of the structure of the increase in the strengths R _m (from 498 to 717 MPa) and R _p0.2 (from 439 to 649 MPa) and the hardness HB (from 166 to 230 MPa) in the alloy R most clearly. However, the structure of the paged states of the alloy R is very uneven with a

Grain size, which is between 5 and 30 pm. In addition, the structure of the outsourced states of the reference material R is characterized by discontinuous precipitates of the system (Cu, Ni) -Sn (denoted 1 in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2). In the structure of the processed state of the

Reference material R are further Ni-phosphides included (in Fig. 1 and Fig. 2 denoted by 2).

The structure of the outsourced bands of embodiment A of the invention is, however, very uniform with a grain size of 2 to 8 μιτι. Moreover, in the structure of Embodiment A, the discontinuous ones are absent

Excretions even after a three-hour aging at 450 ° C with subsequent air cooling. In the microstructure, on the other hand, hard particles of second class are detectable. These phases are designated 3 in FIGS. 5 and 6.

Furthermore, further phases have been eliminated in the structure of the further processed alloy A. These include those designated in Fig. 5 with 4

continuous precipitations of the system (Cu, Ni) -Sn and the hard particles of third class. For the further processed embodiment A of the invention, the size of the hard particles third class after aging at 450 ° C even less than 1 μιτι (in Fig. 6 denoted by 5).

The strengths R _m and R _p0 , 2 of the strips of alloy A, after aging at 400 ° C./3 h / air, assume the values of 675 and 600 MPa due to the spinodal demixing of the structure. Thus, R _m and R _p o, 2 are lower than the characteristics of the corresponding paged state of the alloy R. Should the strength level of R be required if required, it is possible to add a higher proportion of the alloy element nickel to the alloy according to the invention.

Table 6: Grain size, electrical conductivity and mechanical characteristics of the cold-rolled and aged strips of alloys A and R after passing through production program 2 (Table 5) I = uneven

The next step involved testing the hot workability of the continuous castings of alloys A and R. The hot rolling of the cast plates was carried out at a temperature of 720 ° C (Table 7). For the others

Process steps of cold forming and intermediate annealing, the parameters of the production program 2 were adopted.

Table 7: Production program 3 of strips of the continuous casting plates of the embodiment A and the reference material R

During the hot rolling of the cast plates of the reference alloy R, after only a few punctures deep warm cracks formed which led to failure of the plates led by break.

In contrast, the cast plates of the embodiment A of the invention could be hot rolled without damage and after several cold rolling processes and

Annealing processes are made to the final thickness of 3.0 mm. The properties of the outsourced belts (Table 8) largely correspond to those of the belts that were produced without hot forming with the production program 2 (Table 6). Also comparable is the structure of the bands from the

Embodiment A of the alloy according to the invention, which were manufactured without and with a hot-forming step. Thus, from Fig. 7 and Fig. 8 shows the uniform structure of the tapes of the embodiment A, which were prepared with a hot forming stage and a final outsourcing at 400 ° C73h / Luftkkühlung. FIGS. 7 and 8 again show the hard particles of the second class designated 3.

Furthermore, go from Fig. 7 designated 4 continuous

Precipitations of the system (Cu, Ni) -Sn and the hard particles of the third class. In the structure of the further processed variant of embodiment A, the hard particles of the third class even assume a size of less than 1 pm (denoted by 5 in FIG. 8).

The analysis of hard particles of the second and third class in this

further processed state of the embodiment A gave again evidence of the compound SiB ₆ as a representative of the Si-containing and B-containing phases, on Ni ₆ Si 2 B as a representative of the Ni-Si borides, on N 13B as a representative of the Ni borides, on Ni ₃ P as a representative of the Ni phosphides and Ni ₂ Si as a representative of the Ni silicides, which are present individually and / or as addition compounds and / or mixed compounds in the microstructure. In addition, these hard particles are precipitates of the Systems (Cu, Ni) -Sn sheathed.

Table 8; Grain size, electrical conductivity and mechanical characteristics of the cold-rolled and aged strips of alloy A after passing through production program 3 (Table 7)

In plant, equipment, engine and mechanical engineering for many

Applications components with larger dimensions needed. For example, this is often the case in the field of plain bearings. The production of

corresponding components requires a starting material correspondingly large formats. Due to the limited manufacturability of arbitrarily large castings, therefore, there is the need to set the required material properties as possible by means of small degrees of cold work. Tab. 9 lists the process steps used in production program 4. The production took place with one cycle

Cold forming and annealing. Because of the stated

Temperature sensitivity of conventional continuous casting of

Reference material R and the relatively high strength and hardness of the cast state of the embodiment A, only the cast plates of the alloy A were annealed at 740 ° C before the first cold rolling.

The first cold rolling of cast iron alloy R and annealed

Casting plate of alloy A was realized with a deformation ε of 16%. After annealing at 690 ° C., cold rolling with ε of 12% was carried out. Finally, the bands were removed at temperatures of 350, 400 and 450 ° C.

Table 9: Production program 4

The low cold forming of the first cold rolling step of ε = 16% was not sufficient to eliminate together with the subsequent annealing at 690 ° C, the dendritic and coarse-grained structure of the reference material R. In addition, by this thermomechanical treatment, the assignment of the grain boundaries of the alloy R reinforced with Sn-rich segregations.

Along the dendritic structure and along the Sn-rich segregations of grain boundaries of R, during the second cold-rolling step, cracks formed that extend from the surface deep into the interior of the tape.

The crack-free and uniform structure of the bands of embodiment A is characterized by the arrangement of hard particles of the second and third class. As in the previous production programs, the hard particles of the third class also have a size of less than 1 μιτι even after this production program 4.

The resulting properties of the strips after the last cold rolling and after aging are shown in Table 10. Due to the high density of cracks, it was not possible to remove damage-free tensile specimens from the bands of the material R. Thus, only the metallographic Examination and hardness measurement can be made on these tapes.

The embodiment A has a high degree of outsourcing capability, which manifests itself through an interaction of the mechanisms of precipitation hardening and the spinodal segregation of the structure. The characteristic values R _m and R _p o, 2 increase from 517 to 639 and from 481 to 568 MPa due to aging at 400 ° C.

Table 10: Grain size, electrical conductivity and mechanical characteristics of the cold-rolled and aged strips of alloys A and R after passing through production program 4 (Table 9)

■ = dendritic, with Sn-rich segregations

As a result, it can be said that by means of a variation of the

chemical composition, the degree of deformation for the cold forming (-en) and by means of a variation of the Auslagerungsbedingungen the degree of

Precipitation hardening and the degree of spinodal segregation of the microstructure of the invention can be adapted to the required material properties. In this way it is possible, in particular to align the strength, hardness, ductility and the electrical conductivity of the alloy according to the invention specifically to the intended application. LIST OF REFERENCE NUMBERS

1 Discontinuous precipitates of the system (Cu, Ni) -Sn

2 Ni phosphides 3 hard particles of second class

4 Continuous precipitates of the system (Cu, Ni) -Sn and hard particles of third class 5 Hard particles of third class

Claims

claims

High strength copper-nickel-tin alloy with excellent castability, hot workability and cold workability, high resistance to abrasive wear, adhesive wear and fretting wear, and improved corrosion resistance and resistance

Stress relaxation resistance consisting of (in% by weight):

2.0 to 10.0% Ni,

2.0 to 10.0% Sn,

0.01 to 1.5% Si,

0.002 to 0.45% B,

0.001 to 0.09% P,

optionally up to a maximum of 2.0% Co,

optionally up to a maximum of 2.0% Zn,

optionally up to a maximum of 0.25% Pb,

Remaining copper and unavoidable impurities,

characterized,

- That the copper-nickel-tin alloy containing Si-containing and B-containing phases and phases of the systems Ni-Si-B, Ni-B, Ni-P and Ni-Si, which significantly improve the processing properties and performance characteristics of the alloy ,

Stress relaxation resistance consisting of (in% by weight): 2.0 to 10.0% Ni,

2.0 to 10.0% Sn,

0.01 to 1.5% Si,

0.002 to 0.45% B,

0.001 to 0.09% P,

optionally up to a maximum of 2.0% Co,

optionally up to a maximum of 2.0% Zn,

optionally up to a maximum of 0.25% Pb,

Remaining copper and unavoidable impurities,

characterized,

- that after casting in the alloy the following structural components are present:

a) an Si-containing and P-containing metallic matrix with, based on the total structure,

a1) up to 35% by volume of first phase components associated with the

Molar formula Cu _h Ni _k Sn _m can be specified and a

Ratio (h + k) / m of the element contents in atomic% of 2 to 6,

a2) up to 15% by volume of second phase components associated with the

Molar formula Cu _p Ni _r Sn _s can be given and a

Ratio (p + r) / s of the element contents in atomic% of 10 to 15, and

a3) a balance of copper mixed crystal;

b) phases which, relative to the total structure,

b1) with 0.01 to 10% by volume as Si-containing and B-containing phases, b2) with 1 to 15% by volume as Ni-Si borides with the empirical formula Ni _x Si 2 B with x = 4 to 6,

b3) with 1 to 15% by volume as Ni borides, b4) with 1 to 5% by volume as Ni phosphides,

b5) containing 1 to 5% by volume as Ni silicides in the structure, which individually and / or as addition compounds and / or

Mixed compounds are present and of tin and / or the first

Phase components and / or the second phase components are sheathed;

- That during casting, the Si-containing and B-containing phases, which are formed as silicon borides, the Ni-Si borides and the Ni borides, Ni phosphides and Ni silicides, which individually and / or as

Addition compounds and / or mixed compounds are present, nuclei represent a uniform crystallization during the solidification / cooling of the melt, so that the first phase constituents and / or the second phase constituents are distributed uniformly and / or reticulated network-like in the structure;

- That the Si-containing and B-containing phases, which are formed as boron silicates and / or Borphosphorsilikate, together with the

Phosphorus silicates play the role of a wear-protective and

corrosion-protective coating on the semi-finished products and components of the alloy.

Stress relaxation resistance consisting of (in% by weight):

2.0 to 10.0% Ni,

2.0 to 10.0% Sn,

0.01 to 1.5% Si,

0.002 to 0.45% B,

0.001 to 0.09% P, optionally up to a maximum of 2.0% Co,

optionally up to a maximum of 2.0% Zn,

optionally up to a maximum of 0.25% Pb,

Remaining copper and unavoidable impurities,

characterized,

that after the further processing of the alloy by at least one annealing or by at least one hot working and / or

Cold forming together with at least one annealing following

Structural constituents are present:

A) A basic metal mass with, based on the total structure, A1) up to 15% by volume of first phase constituents, which are combined with the

Sum formula CU _h Ni _k Sn _m can be given and have a ratio (h + k) / m of the element contents in atomic% of 2 to 6,

A2) up to 5% by volume of second phase components, which coincides with the

A3) a balance of copper mixed crystal;

B) phases which, relative to the total structure,

B1) with 2 to 30% by volume as Si-containing and B-containing phases, Ni-Si borides with the empirical formula Ni _x Si ₂ B where x = 4 to 6, as Ni borides, N phosphides and as Ni Silicides are contained in the structure, which are present individually and / or as addition compounds and / or mixed compounds and are coated with precipitates of the system (Cu, Ni) -Sn,

B2) are contained in the structure with up to 80% by volume as continuous precipitations of the system (Cu, Ni) -Sn, B3) are contained with 2 to 30% by volume as Ni phosphides and Ni silicides in the structure, which are present individually and / or as addition compounds and / or mixed compounds, sheathed by precipitates of the system (Cu, Ni) -Sn and a Have a size of less than 3 pm;

- That the Si-containing and B-containing phases, which are formed as silicon borides, the Ni-Si borides and the Ni borides, Ni phosphides and Ni silicides, which are present individually and / or as addition compounds and / or mixed compounds , Seeds for a static and dynamic recrystallization of the microstructure during the further processing of the

Alloy, thereby enabling the setting of a uniform and fine-grained structure;

- that the Si-containing and B-containing phases, which as boron silicates

and / or Borphosphorsilikate are formed, together with the

Phosphorus silicates play the role of a wear-protective and

4. copper-nickel-tin alloy according to one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the elements nickel and tin are each contained from 3.0 to 9.0%.

5. copper-nickel-tin alloy according to one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that the element silicon is contained from 0.05 to 0.9%.

6. copper-nickel-tin alloy according to one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that the element boron is contained from 0.01 to 0.4%.

7. copper-nickel-tin alloy according to one of claims 1 to 6, characterized characterized in that the element phosphorus is contained from 0.01 to 0.09%.

8. copper-nickel-tin alloy according to one of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that the alloy except for any unavoidable

Impurities are free of lead.

9. Process for the production of end products or components with

Copper-nickel-tin alloy of close-to-final form according to one of claims 1 to 8 by means of the sand casting method,

Mask molding, investment casting, die casting, die casting or lost foam.

10. Method for producing strips, sheets, plates, bolts,

Round wires, profiled wires, round bars, profiled bars, hollow bars, tubes and profiles of a copper-nickel-tin alloy according to one of claims 1 to 8 by means of the chill casting process or the continuous or semi-continuous continuous casting process.

11. The method according to claim 10, characterized in that the

Further processing of the casting state, the implementation of at least one hot working in the temperature range of 600 to 880 ° C includes.

12. The method according to any one of claims 9 to 11, characterized in that at least one annealing treatment in the temperature range of 170 to 880 ° C is carried out with the duration of 10 minutes to 6 hours.

13 Method according to one of claims 10 to 12, characterized in that the further processing of the cast state or the

hot-worked condition or annealed cast condition or the annealed thermoformed state comprises performing at least one cold working.

14. The method according to claim 13, characterized in that at least one annealing treatment in the temperature range of 170 to 880 ° C is carried out with the duration of 10 minutes to 6 hours.

15. The method according to any one of claims 13 or 14, characterized

characterized in that flash annealing is performed in the temperature range of 170 to 550 ° C for 0.5 to 8 hours.

16. Use of the copper-nickel-tin alloy according to one of claims 1 to 8 for adjusting strips and wear strips, for friction rings and

Friction discs, for sliding elements and guide elements in

Internal combustion engines, valves, turbochargers, gearboxes,

Exhaust aftertreatment systems, lever systems, brake systems and articulated systems, hydraulic units or in machines and

Systems of general engineering.

17. Use of the copper-nickel-tin alloy according to one of claims 1 to 8 for components, line elements, guide elements and

Connecting elements in electronics / electrical engineering.

18. Use of the copper-nickel-tin alloy according to one of claims 1 to 8 for metal objects in the rearing of organisms living in seawater, for percussion instruments, for propellers, wings,

Ship propellers and hubs for shipbuilding, for housings of

Water pumps, oil pumps and fuel pumps, for guide wheels, impellers and impellers for pumps and water turbines, for gears, Worm wheels, helical gears, pressure nuts and spindle nuts for pipes, seals and connecting bolts in the maritime and chemical industries.