CU · copper alloy
Nickel Aluminium Bronze C63000 (UNS C63000)
The strongest of the standard bronze families: about the cutting speed of a stainless and the tool wear of one too. Used for the heaviest wearing applications where nothing softer survives.
Quoting this material
- Typical lead time
- 15–25 working days
- Condition
- Cast or wrought; heat treatable in some product forms
- Achievable finish
- Ra 1.6 µm typical · Ra 0.8 µm best
Machined in-house to your drawing: see the precision CNC machining service and the machine and inspection capability it runs on.
Machinability
Our own 1–10 shop ranking, not a published index: 10 is free-cutting brass C360, 1 is Inconel 718. It ranks how a material behaves on the floor - cycle time, chip control and tool life together. Where a published index exists it is quoted in the note.
The strongest of the standard bronze families: about the cutting speed of a stainless and the tool wear of one too. Used for the heaviest wearing applications where nothing softer survives.
Properties as supplied
| Parameter | Value | Unit |
|---|---|---|
| Tensile strength | 620–790 | MPa |
| Yield strength (0.2%) | 280–480 | MPa |
| Elongation | 10–15 | % |
| Hardness | 190–210 | HB |
| Thermal conductivity | 36 | W/m·K |
| Modulus of elasticity | 117 | GPa |
Hardness, tensile and thermal figures are typical published values for the condition stated. Actual mill certificates govern; send the specification with the drawing and we confirm against the certificate before the material is cut.
Condition
Cast or wrought; heat treatable in some product forms
Heat treatment
Some tempers respond to a heat treatment to refine the structure, but the standard service condition is as-supplied. It is a wear and corrosion alloy rather than a hardened one.
Achievable surface finish
Ra 1.6 µm
Ra 0.8 µm
A clean finish is achievable but the tool has to be sharp; a dull tool work-hardens the surface and the next pass fights it.
Tooling and cutting parameters
Cutting speed
- 60–120 m/min (carbide)
Feed
- 0.08–0.22 mm/rev turning · 0.06–0.14 mm/tooth milling
Tooling
- Coated carbide, sharp positive geometry, rigid setup
Coolant
- Flood
Starting points for carbide on a rigid setup, not a guarantee. The right numbers depend on the machine, the toolholder and the fixturing - ask and we will say what we would actually run.
Typical applications
- Heavy-duty bearings and bushings
- Aircraft landing gear bushings
- Marine propeller and shaft hardware
- Pump wear rings and impellers
- High-load worm gear components
DFM notes for this grade
- It is the bronze for high load and seawater together - where a tin bronze would wear out and a steel would corrode
- The nickel addition is what gives it strength and corrosion resistance, and it is also why it machines like a stainless rather than a brass
- Work-hardening is significant: plan the depths of cut so the finish pass is never a light spring cut on a hardened surface
Questions buyers ask
- When is C63000 the answer over C95400?
- Higher load, and seawater. C63000 carries roughly 30% more load and the nickel makes it markedly better in chloride environments. For landing gear bushings and marine shaft hardware, that combination is the specification.
- Why does it machine like a stainless steel?
- Because the nickel-aluminium intermetallic phases in the microstructure are hard and abrasive, and the material work-hardens. The published cutting speeds are in the same bracket as a 316 - slow, and with real tool consumption.
Grades we would quote instead
C95400 Aluminium Bronze
4/10Roughly twice the strength of a tin bronze and harder to machine than it looks on a datasheet.
C93200 Bearing Bronze
6/10The standard bearing bronze: it machines well, it is soft enough to embed grit, and it runs against a steel shaft without galling.
Monel 400
3/10The most forgiving of the nickel alloys: it machines closer to a tough stainless than to a superalloy, although it work-hardens and galls like its relatives.