Bronze vs Brass, What is the difference? Which is better?

Bronze vs Brass, What is the difference?
Bronze and Brass are alloys of metal and are commonly used in the manufacturing industries today. Both metals are referred to as red metals as a result of their distinct reddish color. Bronze and Brass contain a varying number of other elements and as a result, they exist with varying properties. Being an alloy of copper, brass typically consists of copper and zinc while bronze is typically made of copper and tin.
These two metals possess similar properties, but there is a need to differentiate both for proper use. As a result, this post focuses on drawing comparisons using their characteristics, properties, and benefit.
First, let’s know what is Bronze and Brass
To enable us to draw comparisons between brass and bronze, it important to have a clear view of what brass and bronze are. We have tailored this section to present a clear view of what both metals are.
What is bronze?
Bronze is a metal alloy that is made up of copper and tin primarily. This metal dates back to 3500 BC with the Sumerians and this age was referred to as the Bronze age. It is regarded as a copper alloy and is defined based on its working properties as well as specific alloying elements.
Consequently, bronze properties and characteristics can be improved using different elemental compositions. Such metals include manganese, nickel, silicon, lead, antimony, zinc, and many more. Due to this, designers are presented with a wide array of bronze grades to choose from. Bronze is typically reddish-brown/gold and it’s brittle but less so compared to cast iron.
What is brass?
Brass was discovered by users around 500 BC with much overlap with bronze. Brass is a metal alloy that primarily copper and zinc. Its elemental composition of metals including tin, iron, aluminum, lead, silicon, and manganese. These elemental composition helps to achieve varying electrical and mechanical properties in brass. Taking zinc content as an example, it helps brass to enhance the ductility and strength of the base copper material. Evidence has proven that the higher the zinc concentration of brass, the more pliable and stronger its alloy.
Brass can exist in a color range including bright gold, silver, and many more depending on the ratio of zinc to copper. It can be said to be more ductile compare to zinc with similarly low friction when machined with other metals. Besides, brass is often known for its decorative application because of its gold resemblance.
Let’s Compare 17 Differences Between Bronze and Brass
This section focuses on drawing comparisons between bronze and brass using different individual characteristics.
Bronze vs Brass: Element Composition
Bronze and Brass can be differentiated by drawing a comparison using their elemental composition. In comparison, bronze as copper alloy contains copper (Cu) and tin (sn) while its main components depending on its alloy form:
Aluminum
Lead (Pb)
Antimony
Nickel (Ni)
Phosphorus (P)
Silicon (Si)
Sulfur (S)
Cobalt
Chromium
Zinc
On the other hand, brass as a metal is simply an alloy of copper and zinc. In nature, its primary elemental composition includes Copper (Cu) and Zinc (Zn) while it may have the following components depending on the form of alloy:
Tin (Sn)
Sulfur (S)
Silicon (Si)
Phosphorus (P)
Nickel (Ni)
Lead (Pb)
Iron (Fe)
Antimony (Sb)
Aluminum (Al)
Bronze vs Brass: Corrosion Resistance
Another way to draw a comparison between brass and bronze is to use their level of corrosion resistance. Bronze oxidizes in the air as a result of its copper (Cu) content to result in a distinct mottled patina. This helps to prevent bronze from corroding easily especially when bronze is found in an environment such as saltwater. However, if bronze comes in contact with chlorine compounds, a process called “bronze disease” begins. This disease makes bronze more susceptible to corrosion which slowly degrades the copper alloy over time. Due to bronze’s resistance to saltwater corrosion, it is often used for boat fittings and marine parts.
On the other hand, brass exists to be corrosion resistant, especially in galvanic seawater. However, when brass undergoes corrosion, it lost its zinc content leaving only copper in a process called dezincification. During this process, there is a cosmetic change in which brass color turns from yellow to pink. This process can however be prevented by coating the bronze layer.
Bronze vs Brass: Electrical conductivity
These two metals are alloys of copper. Copper is the standard in which most metals are rated for electrical conductivity. One of the interesting facts we revealed as regards the two metals is that brass and bronze rank low in relative electrical conductivity.
One might have to think that both bronze and brass are composed of mainly copper, then they should be nearly conductive as copper. However, this is not the case because of other elemental composition. They both contain a small percentage of other elements such as aluminum, tin, zinc, nickel, cobalt, and more degrades the electrical conductivity performance of bronze and brass. In comparison using copper as a standard, brass has a higher electrical conductivity of 28% while bronze is the least (15%) conductive.
Bronze vs Brass: Thermal Conductivity
The thermal conductivity of a material is a measure to know if such material can be used for thermal applications. This helps to know the amount of energy that can be transferred through such material and the rate at which it can be transferred. When bronze is compared with brass, we discovered that the thermal conductivity of brass is much higher than bronze which makes it more ideal for manufacturing radiators. However, bronze can be used in thermal applications, but its counterpart – brass will be considered over bronze when thermal applications are required.
Bronze vs Brass: Melting point
Bronze has a higher melting point (315 – 1080 °C) than brass (809 – 1030 °C) and they are both easily cast. The melting point of brass and bronze is very important and crucial for the selection of either bronze or brass for a project. This is because there can be a component failure at the melting point.
When the material reaches its melting point level, there is a transition from a solid state to a liquid state. At this state, this material can be easily cast into different shapes. In using either brass or bronze for shape casing, the desired mechanical properties must be considered. A more decorative project will most likely benefit from brass while a more resilient project will most likely benefit from bronze.
Bronze vs Brass: Hardness
The hardness of a material is a measure of its response to local surface stress and how the material reacts to dent, scratch, and many more. In this measure, the Brinell hardness scale exists to be one of many hardness measures available. It uses its hardness indenter machine to grade a material’s response to a standardized force. On this scale, bronze scores between 40 and 420 while a brass score between 55 and 73.
This result shows that bronze is averagely harder than brass. A harder material can be said to be more brittle and bronze obeys this rule of being much more prone to fracture compared to brass. If resistance to wear and strength are of great concern in a project, bronze may be a perfect choice. However, if workability becomes a necessity, brass is by far considered over bronze.
Bronze vs Brass: Weight
When it comes to comparing the weight of bronze and brass, water can be chosen as the baseline for specific gravity – given the value of 1. The specific gravity of bronze and brass is then compared as a fraction of heavier or lighter density. From our comparisons, we discovered that bronze is the heaviest with a density of 7400 – 8900 kg/cu.m. On the other end, the weight of brass is lower based on its elemental composition and it ranges from 8400 up to 8730 kg/cu.m.
Bronze vs Brass: Durability
The durability of a material is the ability of that material to remain functional without the use of excessive repair or maintenance whenever the material is faced with normal operation challenges over its half-life. Bronze is a hard and sturdy metal but it’s not easily flexed. Bronze can also withstand water and as a result, it is immune to corrosion caused by water. On the other hand, brass is robust and not as durable as bronze. It is also immune to corrosion and cracking which makes it averagely durable.
Bronze vs Brass: Machinability
A comparative score gives to metals to assess how they react to machining stress such as stamping, milling, turning, and more is referred to as machinability. It is of great importance to the machinability score of a material of choice because it determines the type of machining that can be done on such materials.
A materials machinability percentage is done in comparison to a reference material where the material is given a rating of 100%. A material that is more difficult to machine has a percentage below 100 which is the case of brass and bronze. Most copper alloys are too ductile to machine but some are developed specifically for machining such as brass alloy C360.
Bronze vs Brass: Formability
In terms of formability, brass is more formable than bronze. Brass is said to be hard but it is softer than bronze which is an alloy of copper and tin. This comparative softness of brass makes it easier to shape, cut, and file.
Bronze vs Brass: Weldability
It is important to note that both bronze and brass are weldable. However, there is an exception for the brass alloy containing lead, and the smaller the zinc content of brass the easier it is to be welded. Brass that contains 20% zinc is rated to have good weldability while brass with 20% and above are said to have fair weldability. Besides, cast brass metals are only marginally weldable.
On the other hand, unleaded bronze alloys demonstrate fair weldability and under the stressed condition, they become susceptible to cracking. However, leaded phosphor bronze can be carefully welded using SMAW.
Bronze vs Brass: Yield Strength
The yield strength of a metal is regarded as the highest stress at which the metal begins to deform permanently. In a comparison between bronze and brass, brass possesses a higher yield strength than copper. To support the claim, bronze has the highest yield strength at 69.0 – 800 MPa (10000 – 116000 psi) while brass exhibit 34.5 up to 683 MPa (5000 – 99100 psi).
Bronze vs Brass: Tensile Strength
Many manufacturers in the manufacturing industries take the strength of the material as a major factor especially when the choice of material is to be done. Bronze and brass are sought after as a result of the increased tensile strength they both demonstrate when they are cold worked or in the case of brass when more zinc is added.
In comparison, bronze has a tensile strength of 50 Ksi (350 MPa) when annealed and tensile strength of 92 Ksi (635 Mpa) when cold-rolled tempered. On the other hand, brass has a tensile strength of 53 Ksi (365 MPa) when annealed and 88 Ksi (607 MPa) when cold-rolled tempered.
Bronze vs Brass: Shear Strength
It is referred to as the strength against the type of yield or structural failure especially when the metal fails in shear. The shear load means a force that produces a sliding failure of a material or component along a plane that is parallel to the force direction. When measured, it is evident that brass has the highest shear strength ranging from 35000 psi to 48000 psi while bronze has the lowest shear strength ranging from 35000 psi to 47000 psi.
Bronze vs Brass: Color
One of the simplest ways to distinguish between bronze and brass is the use of color. Bronze in terms of color is reddish-brown. This property may change slightly when other elements are added to the bronze mixture. Irrespective of its change, it’s still easy to differentiate bronze from brass. On the other hand, brass usually features a muted yellow shade and it’s very similar to dull gold. This property makes it an ideal material for furniture and fixtures.
Bronze vs Brass: Price
The piece of bronze and copper may vary depending on different factors such as copper contents. The content of copper in both alloys determines their price in the market. However, bronze in comparison with brass is usually more expensive. This can be attributed to its copper content and to the process required to manufacture bronze.
Bronze vs Brass: Applications
Bronze
Bronze exists in varieties of forms or alloys and irrespective of its alloy, it offers a vast array of applications. For many years, bronze was used for coins and are suitable for use in ship and boat fittings before the wide employment of stainless. Till today, bronze is used in ship propellers and submerged bearings. Bronze has very low friction against dissimilar metals and as a result, it is used today for bearings, springs, bushings automobile transmission pilot bearings, bearings for small electric motors, and many more.
Bronze is used to make mallets, hammers, wrenches, and other durable tools as they generate no spark when struck against a hard surface. They are also used in making bronze wool for woodworking applications. Bronze also has a great application in sculptures, musical instruments as well as electrical contacts. Specific bronze alloys offer varying properties as follows:
863 - Manganese Bronze
This bronze alloy is known for its corrosive resistance and high strength. It features longevity as a result of durability, making it an ideal option for heavy-duty applications. Such applications include agricultural and construction equipment. 863 Manganese Bronze is applicable in the making of the following:
Bridge pins
Bronze for gears
Cams
Gibs
Hydraulic cylinder components
Large stem valves
Load bearings
Screw-down nuts
907 Tin Bronze
The 907 Tin Bronze features quality corrosion resistance especially in applications involving seawater exposure. It performs excellently in wear and fatigue applications and it is moderately machinable. The alloy is applicable in making the following:
Bearings
Bronze for gears
Bushings
Marine fittings
Piston rings
Pump components
917 Tin Bronze
This alloy is known for its increased load carrying capacity especially for heavy loads that undergo slow and irregular movement. 917 tin bronze is highly corrosion resistant and requires adequate lubrication. It is commonly used for application such as:
Bearings with slow speed and high load
Turntables for bridges
Gears
Wheels in worm drives
Movable bridge components
954 Aluminum Bronze
The 954 Aluminum Bronze is an extremely strong bronze alloy that offers superior corrosion resistance. Being the most popular aluminum bronze alloy, it features exceptionally elevated temperature strength, weldability, high ductility, high yield, and high tensile strength. It is generally used for applications including:
Worms and worm gears (low speed/high strength)
Spur gears
Bushings
Bearings
Pickling (baskets/hooks)
Valve components
955 Aluminum Bronze
The 955 Aluminum Bronze is one of the toughest non-ferrous alloys in existence. This alloy features superior compressive and yield strength coupled with high hardness and elongation. It is corrosion resistant to seawater with impressive thermal resistance. 955 Aluminum Bronze is weldable with good machinability. It commonly found in applications such as:
Agitators
Aircraft engine (seats, valve guides)
Bronze for gears
Bushings
Landing gear components
Pickling (baskets/hooks)
Worms
Brass
Brass – an alloy of copper offers a wide range of applications in the manufacturing industries. Its common application can be found in decoration because it shares a gold resemblance. As a result of its durability and workability, brass is a highly ideal source material for manufacturing musical instruments. It is applicable in manufacturing plumbing pipes and tubing as a result of its high corrosion resistance. Brass is widely used in electronic appliances because it offers excellent electrical conductivity.
No doubt, brass is seen in mechanical applications including the production of shell casting for an M-16 rifle, gears, bearings, and many more. Varying applications of specific alloys of brass include:
Red Brass
This is an alloy of brass and it is made up of about 95% copper and 5% zinc. Red Brass is a soft alloy of brass and can be easily formed or hammered into desired shapes. It is most suited for craft-related projects as a result of its unusual deep bronze color. Red brass has a vast variety of application such as:
Architectural fascial
Badges
Jewelry
Grillwork
Marine hardware
Door Handles
Ornamental trim
Engraving Brass
The Engraving brass is known as C35600 or C37000 with its lead composition ranging between 1% and 2%. As its suffix implies, so its application, in essence, for the creation of engraved plaques and nameplates. The engraving brass has applications as follows:
Builder Hardware
Gear Meters
Clock Components
Appliance Rim
Free Cutting Brass
This type of brass alloy is designated C-360 and it’s composed of copper, zinc, and lead. It is commonly found in applications such as:
Bolts, Nuts, Threaded Parts
Terminals
Pipe or water fittings
Taps
Valve Bodied
Injectors
Balance weight
High Tensile Brass
High tensile brass is a manganese-containing brass alloy. This form of brass alloy exhibits a high level of strength and it applicable in products that go through a great deal of stress. Example of application of high tensile brass include:
Locomotive Axle Box
Marine Engines
Swash Plates
Battery Clamps
Valve Guides
Bushes Bearings
Heavy Load Wheels
Summary Table
How to differentiate between Bronze and Brass?
Color Identification
For proper identification, clean the two metals with salt and vinegar paste. This is because older pieces of bronze and brass normally develop dark or green coating known as patina. This patina makes it hard to differentiate both metals using color. For thorough cleaning, mix 1 teaspoon (17 g) of salt with flour (8 g) and stir in enough white vinegar to make a thick paste. Then scrub the paste onto the unidentified metal with a sponge and rinse the paste off with hot water.
Check the metal if it is reddish-brown. Once the metal has been cleaned out of which its true color has shown, check if the color is a reddish-brown hue. Bronze is made of copper and tin, so it doesn’t exhibit the yellow coloration of brass. A simple tip to recognize the color is to hold a few different pieces of metal so the color is easier to see. If it is evident that the metal exhibits reddish-brown coloration, it is bronze.
Check the metal if it is a yellow-colored metal
At first glance, brass exhibit yellow coloration like gold because of its copper and zinc elemental composition. The brass-yellow coloration looks duller and less vibrant than the gold that looks more yellow. If the metal material is yellowish colored and wasn’t very tarnished, then it said to be brass.
To verify your discovery, check the metal for rings. Bronze is usually cast with the use of spinning or centrifugal force. This process creates on the bronze a surface faint ring. If you feel that the metal piece is made of bronze, then feel or look for rings. This is easily spotted if the piece is a cylinder or metal pipe.
Bronze vs brass F.A.Q
Summary: Bronze vs Brass, which one is best for your project?
Bronze and brass are copper alloys that retain many qualities of copper but they have unique differences. It is a common thing to confuse bronze and brass when it comes to metal choice, our article has presented a comparison of the properties, applications, and strength. As of now, you should be able to obtain the best option based on our comparison and we are glad that your project will be a successful one.
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