Brian Newbury Michael Notis Dale Newbury

Abstract

It has been widely accepted that the zinc composition limit in historic cementation brasses is approximately 30wt%. However, reports have been published of the ability to produce cementation brasses in excess of this limit (Welter 2003, Zwicker et al 1992). This work reproduces both traditional cementation brass production methods and the high-zinc production technique reported by Zwicker et al to explore the true limit of zinc content and how this relates to historic brass compositions. Metallography and advanced scanning electron X-ray composition mapping showed that it is possible to produce brasses with over 40wt% zinc by cementation. However, to achieve these compositions the process must be performed in very small quantities and at very short furnace times, which is contrary
to historical written accounts of the cementation brass production techniques. It is the opinion of the authors that while it is possible to produce a >40wt% brass via cementation, the commonly reported zinc content limit of ~30wt% is valid for historic artefacts.

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References
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How to Cite
Revisiting the zinc composition limit of cementation brass. (2021). Historical Metallurgy, 39(2), 75-81. https://hmsjournal.org/index.php/home/article/view/235
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