1 copper Copper plays a very important role in modern society, it is so closely related to our life. : It is widely used in architectural structures as a carrier for transmitting electricity. In addition, it has been used as a raw material for body decorations by people from many different cultural backgrounds for thousands of years. This malleable, orange-red metal has evolved with us, from its simple beginnings in decoding transmissions to its pivotal role in complex modern communications applications. Copper is an excellent conductor, second only to silver in its electrical conductivity. From the perspective of the time history of people using metal materials, copper is the metal that has been used the longest by humans after gold. This is in large part because copper is easy to mine and the copper industry is relatively easy to separate from copper. Material properties: very good corrosion resistance, excellent thermal conductivity, electrical conductivity, hard, flexible, ductile, unique effect after polishing. Typical uses: electrical wires, engine coils, printed circuits, roofing materials, plumbing materials, heating materials, jewelry, cooking utensils. It is also one of the main alloying ingredients for making bronze. 2 Aluminum Compared with gold, which has a history of 9,000 years, aluminum, this bluish white metal, can only be regarded as a baby among metal materials. Aluminum was invented and named in the early 18th century. Unlike other metal elements, aluminum does not exist in nature in the form of direct metal elements, but is extracted from bauxite containing 50% alumina (also known as bauxite). Aluminum in this mineral form is also one of the most abundant metallic elements on our planet. When the metal aluminum first appeared, it was not immediately applied to people’s lives. Later, a batch of new products aimed at its unique functions and characteristics gradually came out, and this high-tech material gradually gained a wider and wider market. Although the application history of aluminum is relatively short, the output of aluminum products on the market has far exceeded the sum of other non-ferrous metal products. Material properties: flexible and plastic, easy to make alloys, high strength-to-weight ratio, excellent corrosion resistance, easy to conduct electricity and heat, and recyclable. Typical uses: Vehicle skeletons, aircraft parts, kitchen utensils, packaging, and furniture. Aluminum is also often used to strengthen some large building structures, such as the Eros statue in Piccadilly Circus in London, and the top of the Chrysler Automobile Building in New York, etc., have all used aluminum reinforcement materials. 3 zinc Zinc, silvery and bluish-gray, is the third most widely used non-ferrous metal after aluminum and copper. A statistic from the U.S. Bureau of Mines shows that an ordinary person consumes a total of 331 kilograms of zinc in his lifetime. Zinc has a very low melting point, so it is also an ideal casting material. Zinc castings are very common in our daily life: materials under the surface of door handles, faucets, electronic components, etc. Zinc has extremely high corrosion resistance, which makes it have another most basic function, namely As a surface coating material for steel. In addition to the above functions, zinc is also an alloy material that combines with copper to form brass. Its anti-corrosion properties don’t just apply to steel surface coatings – it also helps strengthen our human immune system. Material properties: health care, anti-corrosion, excellent castability, excellent corrosion resistance, high strength, high hardness, cheap raw materials, low melting point, creep resistance, easy to form alloys with other metals, health care, at room temperature Fragile, ductile at about 100 degrees Celsius. Typical use: electronic product components. Zinc is one of the alloy materials that form bronze. Zinc also has hygienic and anti-corrosion properties. In addition, zinc is also used in roofing materials, photo engraving discs, mobile phone antennas and shutter devices in cameras. 4 cast iron The reason why cast iron has such a large and wide range of uses is mainly due to its excellent fluidity and its ease of casting into various complex shapes. Cast iron is actually the name given to a mixture of elements including carbon, silicon and iron. The higher the carbon content, the better the flow characteristics during casting. Carbon occurs here in two forms, graphite and iron carbide. The presence of graphite in cast iron gives sewer covers excellent wear resistance. Rust generally only appears on the outermost layer, so it is usually polished. Even so, there are still special measures to prevent rust during the pouring process, that is, a layer of asphalt coating is added to the surface of the casting, and the asphalt penetrates into the pores on the cast iron surface to prevent rust. The traditional process of producing sand casting materials is now used by many designers in other newer and more interesting fields. Material properties: excellent fluidity, low cost, good wear resistance, low solidification shrinkage, very brittle, high compressive strength, good machinability. Typical uses: Cast iron has been used for hundreds of years in fields such as buildings, bridges, engineering components, homes, and kitchen utensils. 5 stainless steel Stainless steel is an alloy made by incorporating chromium, nickel, and some other metal elements into steel. Its non-rusting feature is derived from the chromium component in the alloy. The chromium forms a firm and self-healing chromium oxide film on the surface of the alloy. This film is invisible to our naked eyes. The ratio of stainless steel and nickel we usually refer to is generally 18:10. At the beginning of the 20th century, stainless steel was introduced into the field of product design as a raw material, and designers developed many new products around its toughness and corrosion resistance, involving many fields that had never been involved before. This series of design attempts is very revolutionary: for example, a device that can be reused after sterilization appears in the medical industry for the first time. Stainless steel is divided into four main types: austenitic, ferritic, ferritic-austenitic (composite), martensite. Stainless steel used in household items is basically austenitic. Material properties: health care, anti-corrosion, fine surface treatment, high rigidity, can be formed by various processing techniques, and it is difficult to cold process. Typical uses: Austenitic stainless steel is mainly used in household products, industrial pipes and building structures; Martensitic stainless steel is mainly used to make knives and turbine blades; Ferritic stainless steel is corrosion-resistant and is mainly used in durable washing machines and In boiler parts; composite stainless steel has stronger corrosion resistance, so it is often used in aggressive environments.