Education

Copper Facts

Copper In Transportation & Industry

There's more than 50 pounds of copper in a typical U.S.-built automobile: about 40 pounds for electrical and about 10 pounds for nonelectrical components. Today's luxury cars, on average, contain some 1,500 copper wires totaling about one mile in length, thanks to continuing improvements in electronics and the addition of power accessories. In 1948, the average family car contained only about 55 wires amounting to an average total length of 150 feet.

CuproBraze is the name of a new manufacturing process for copper-and-brass automotive radiators. The process uses fluxless lead-free brazing, anneal resistant alloys and laser welding among other innovations to produce new thin-walled radiators that perform better than thicker-walled aluminum products.

The new radiator was developed by the International Copper Association and produced initially by the Universal Auto Radiator Manufacturing Company. They are typically 30% to 40% lighter than traditional copper and brass models, can be made smaller than their aluminum counterparts, and can provide up to 30% less air-side pressure drop. The CuproBraze process also shortens manufacturing time and reduces production costs.

The body of the 1921 Rolls Royce Silver Ghost is completely copper. Nearly all of the car's engine hardware is solid brass. And, of course, it has a copper and brass radiator. The Franklin Mint offers a precision scale model. The National Transportation Museum in Reno, Nevada, displays the classic restored Rolls.

An average motorized farm vehicle uses 63 pounds of copper, while construction vehicles use an average 66 pounds. An electric forklift truck uses about 138 pounds.

The largest mobile land machine ever built is a mammoth electric shovel, called the walking dragline, and uses a whopping 800,000 pounds of copper.

About 2% (9,000 pounds) of the total weight of a Boeing 747-200 jet plane is copper. Included in that weight is 632,000 feet of copper wire.

A typical, diesel-electric railroad locomotive uses about 11,000 pounds of copper.

More than 16,000 pounds (8 tons) of copper is used in the latest and most-powerful locomotives manufactured by General Electric Company and General Motors Corporation.

These diesel-electric behemoths use fabricated copper conductor bars for the rotors of their six three-phase AC-induction motors and copper wire for winding the stators.

The 6,000-hp engines rely on copper-wound generators; copper-and-brass radiators for cooling; copper tube for refrigeration, air-conditioning and heating; and more than five miles of copper wire for power and communications.

Model railroads depend on copper, too. Prized scale models of locomotive and rolling stock are cast in solid brass. All model motors are wound with copper wire as are the transformers that reduce the voltage applied to the tracks. And the tracks are made of either brass or nickel silver, another alloy of copper.

Electrically powered subway cars, trolleys and buses use from 625 pounds to 9,200 pounds each, for a weighted average of 2,300 pounds apiece.

A Triton-class nuclear submarine uses about 200,000 pounds of copper.

Cast and sintered bronzes perform an important anti-friction function as bearings in millions of home products, automobiles and trucks, and in virtually all heavy industrial equipment.

Bronze bearings come in several basic forms, including cylindrical sleeves or flanges; flat, donut-shaped thrust bearings; or disk-shaped bearing plates.

Today, small-footprint, high-efficiency boilers based on copper heat exchangers are replacing conventional firebox boilers that require rooms with ceilings as high as 18 feet. Aside from space saving, the new boilers are more energy efficient - in the range of 84% versus less than 70% for the old room-size units.

OSHA, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, requires the use of copper alloy safety tools in situations where explosions are feared. A complete selection of hand tools, such as hammers, axes, pliers, screwdrivers and the like, is made from either beryllium copper or aluminum bronze. These high-strength, nonsparking copper alloy tools are also nonmagnetic and corrosion resistant.

Copper-alloy inserts and core pins are used extensively in problem areas of the plastics molding process because of copper's excellent thermal conductivity (heat transfer).

Recently, injection molds made completely from copper alloys (instead of steel or aluminum) have been gaining acceptance in the plastics industry. Along with increased production rates, copper alloy molds reduce warping, surface finish problems and operating costs for manufacturers.

The information provided in this section has been collected from many varied sources and is true and accurate insofar as the Copper Development Association Inc. has been able to determine.

Additional Resources

The CDA web site provides many other resources for people interested in learning more about copper and its alloys.

Take a look at Innovations - our on-line magazine.

Please also check out Copper In Your Home - a section dedicated to consumers, with a special section just for kids!

If you need metallurgical or properties information, take a look at the Standards & Properties section.

Please also take a look at our application specific sections if you are looking for information regarding plumbing, electrical, architecture, and other copper alloy applications.