Nickel

About Nickel and Nickel Distributors Including: Nickel Bar, Nickel Metal, Nickel Plate & Nickel Sheet.

Nickel is an element that is malleable, somewhat ferromagnetic, hard, ductile and a conductor of electricity and heat. The metal is silvery white, and can come in a polished or brushed nickel surface. It can also come in various forms, such as flakes, sheet, spheres, rods, powder, foil, wire or mesh. It is retrieved from its original ore form by using extractive metallurgy. Nickel is very strong and can handle incredibly high temperatures. It is used most often in the stainless steel industry because it is strong and can withstand breaking under high forces, it can bend and yield before cracking or breaking, and nickel increases the steel's strength, ductility, rust resistance and value. Nickel is typically supplied to stainless steel and low alloy steel foundries and chemical companies. Most can also supply nickel and nickel alloys in any required form, forging the materials into flat bars, rings or disks for the aerospace, automotive, medical, foodservice and many other industries.

In applications that require corrosion or high temperature resistance, nickel is the material most often used. Pure nickel has good magnetic and electrical properties, and is hard and ductile, so it is used to strengthen metal alloys. Nickel alloys have strength, elasticity and proportional limits, and are used for industrial plumbing, machinery parts, nickel-chrome resistance wires and spark plugs. Superalloys, which are nickel-based, are used in high-strength applications, withstanding temperatures up to 2,000°F, and high-carbon nickel-base casting alloys are used for over 2,200°F. Nickel suppliers use it to create heat-resistant and corrosion-resistant alloys, such as Invar®, Monel® and Inconel®. Because nickel is similar to iron chemically but has good resistance to oxidation, it is often supplied as an iron substitute in steel alloys or mixtures. Nickel suppliers use it in alloys with copper, chromium, lead, silver, cobalt, gold and aluminum. The amount of nickel supplied in these alloys varies from only 32.5% all the way to 99.5%. Nickel-chromium alloys contain 40-70 percent nickel and are used in many high-temperature applications: heating elements and jet engines are two common uses. Nickel suppliers and nickel distributors also use nickel wire in heating elements.

Electroplating is the second most common use for nickel behind stainless steel. Since it is resistant to rust and oxidation, and can be plated on many different surfaces. It is used on things such as electronic connectors, automobile trim, and bathroom fittings. Electroless nickel plating is also used in the metal plating industry. Uniformity, corrosion resistance and lubricity are better than when using electroplating, and electroless plating can be used in some applications, such as coating plastics, that electroplating cannot. Unlike electroplating, electroless nickel plating does not use electricity. It is a process that uses heat directly linked to the chemical reduction of nickel compounds.

Besides being able to withstand extreme temperatures, nickel alloys can be welded, machined, and hot and cold worked by nickel distributors and suppliers. Nickel can be forged into almost any shape that steel can be, and are best worked somewhere between 1,800 and 2,200°F. Nickel plates, nickel rods and nickel bars are among the number of items that can be formed, but because nickel hardens to a greater extent than steel, cold-forming processes need often intermediate annealing to restore soft temper. Arc welding, resistance welding, soft soldering, and bronze and silver brazing are used to join nickel alloys. If the nickel products are not wanted or if there are scraps left over, they can easily be recycled, becoming new nickel alloys or stainless steel materials.

Nickel Images Provided by Metalmen

Nickel Types

• Brushed nickel is a finish created by a rough surface going over the metal to create very small patterned lines, making a distinctive look, yet retaining its metallic luster.
  
• Casting alloys are alloys used to form objects in molds, and they are more easily molded than other alloys.
  
• Cupro nickel is a nickel alloy made up of nickel, copper, iron and manganese (or other strengthening impurities). It does not corrode in seawater and is used in various marine applications.
  
• Inconel is a nickel-base alloy, but also has chromium and iron, and it is used in gas turbine blades.
  
• Invar is a trademark alloy of nickel and iron and is usually used in tuning forks, measuring tapes and other instruments.
  
• Monel is a trademark alloy made up of mostly nickel, as well as copper, iron and other trace elements. It cannot be corroded by acids, and it can withstand fire in pure oxygen, but it is hard to machine because it hardens instantly.
  
• Nickel alloy is an alloy made up of more nickel than anything else.
  
• Nickel bars and rods are straight, solid products of nickel or nickel alloys that can be extruded. These products can have a variety of shapes, circular, triangular, square and more.
  
• Nickel metal is an element listed on the periodic table that is silver in color and both ductile and malleable.
• Nickel plates consist of rolled nickel and are used as a component in buildings and bridges.
  
• Nickel pricing is usually only quoted for a short period-usually less than a week long-as the price of nickel alters regularly.
• Nickel sheet is a flat plane composed of nickel or nickel alloys.
• Nichrome is a nickel-chromium alloy used for resistance heating elements because it can withstand high temperatures and has a high electrical resistance.
  
• Permalloy is an 80/20 alloy of nickel and iron which is easily demagnetized and magnetized.

Nickel Terms

Alloy - A combination of two or more metallic elements that are usually dissolved into each other or fused together.

Cold Forming - Deformation of a metal at a low enough temperature to prevent re-crystallization during cooling.

Conductivity - A metal's ability to conduct electricity. Nickel is a good conductor, and therefore is used in wires.

Ductility - The capability of a metal, such as nickel, to allow deformation or shaping before finally fracturing.

Electroless Nickel Plating - A process in which nickel coating is applied to a surface in a controlled chemical reduction. Electrons used are not supplied electrically, but by a chemical reducing agent.

Electroplating - A process by which metal ions are attracted to a solid metal electrode. As the ions bind to the surface of the metal, they become a thin coating, which forms a protective layer to prevent corrosion.

Extractive Metallurgy - The process of purifying and recycling metal that was extracted from ore.

Ferromagnetic - It is the most familiar form of magnetism. Permanent magnets are ferromagnetic, and so are the metals that are attracted to them, such as nickel.

Hydride - Any binary compound of hydrogen and another element.

Malleable - The characteristic of some metals, meaning they have the ability to be shaped or formed by applying pressure.

Non-ferrous - A type of metal which does not contain iron.

Oxidation - The reaction in which oxygen is added and causes the removal of electrons from the reactant.

Superalloy - An alloy with a base element of nickel, nickel-iron or cobalt, which has corrosion resistance, ability to withstand high temperatures, mechanical strength and good surface stability.