They include babbitt metal, bronze, and aluminum-tin. Although soft, conformable, and corrosion resistant, their low mechanical strength must be boosted by bonding to steel, cast iron, or bronze backing materials. Low melting point and extreme fluidity of these alloys produce sound, intricate castings inexpensively and with little wear on molds. Antimony, copper, and lead are the principal additions to tin in die-casting alloys. These alloys are mainly gravity or centrifugally die cast.
Shrinkage is negligible.
Primary alloying elements include bismuth, lead, cadmium, and indium. Most of these alloys provide electrical or mechanical links in safety devices. They are used in the manufacture of powder-metallurgy parts, in tinning and solder pastes, and in the spray metallization of surfaces. In small amounts, tin is also combined with titanium, zirconium, and other metals to provide special properties. It is used as an alloy in nodular and gray irons to provide greater strength, increased and uniform hardness, and improved machinability.