Brass is a metal alloy composed of copper and zinc. Brass is used in many different applications due to teh corrosion-resistant properties of brass. Many people uses brass bolts in environments where the presence of salt water or chemicals would lead the steel bolts in those same environments to corrode.
Because brass is a softer metal than steel, however, you should take care when installing brass bolts into an item to be fastened. If you apply too much torque to a brass bolt, the brass bolt will yield and the brass bolt will fail. The different type of brass alloys contain different amounts of strength.
Brass Bolts: Strength, Care and How to Tighten
As a result, you can apply different amounts of torque to bolts made of each different type of brass. For instance, free-cutting brass contains less strength than other types of brass; the tensile strength of free-cutting brass is around 50,000 PSI. Naval grade brass contains tin, which increase the tensile strength of the brass to around 60,000 PSI.
Silicon bronze, another form of brass, has a tensile strength of around 80,000 PSI. An individual must recognize each of these different types of brass bolt prior to installation to determine the amount of torque that each bolt can take before it begins to fail. The lubrication of a brass bolt can also impact the amount of torque that should be applied to that bolt.
For instance, if you use an anti-seize lubricant on the brass bolt, the torque should be reduced by 20% to account for the lubricant’s ability to reduce the friction between the brass and the other component that are to be fastened together. If the torque is not reduced in cases where lubrication is used, the brass bolt may snap or stretch due to excess tension that is placed upon the bolt. In addition, brass undergoes plastic deformation when being tightened; if the brass bolt begins to feel soft after installation, it has passed its yield point and should not be used.
Lastly, if a brass bolt has been torqued to its limit, it should not be reused; once torqued to its limit, the brass bolt has undergone permanent deformation and will no longer create a reliable seal when used again. The materials that are present in the environments in which the brass bolts are used can impact the corrosion of those brass bolts. Brass is galvanically compatible with copper and bronze; it can be used with those metals without the risk of the brass or the copper or bronze components rapid corroding.
Brass should not be used with aluminum components, however, as the aluminum will begin to corrode rapid when in contact with brass. In environments with both brass and steel components and in the presence of moisture, isolation washers should be used between those metal components to prevent the corrosion of both metals. In order to correctly install a brass bolt into an item, you should use a torque wrench that measures in inch-pounds.
An impact driver should not be used in installing a brass bolt; the impact driver is designed for steel items rather than the softer metals. When installing a brass bolt, the bolts should be installed in stages; 50% of the required torque should be applied to the brass bolt, followed by the remaining 50% of the required torque. In cases of installing a flange with many brass bolts, the bolts should be tightened in a star pattern.
Additionally, before the brass bolt is installed into its item, the female threads should be cleaned to remove any debris; any debris within the threads will lead to the application of too much torque to the brass bolt. Brass is used in many different industries and applications; the metal has specific properties that make it useful in those industries. Marine environments are one of the industries in which brass hardware is especially useful; brass will not rust in the presence of salt spray.
In electrical applications, brass is useful in that brass has high electrical conductivity and is non-magnetic. In gas applications, brass is useful in that brass does not create sparks when in contact with the gas, and building codes requires brass gas fittings. Brass can withstand temperatures up to 400 degrees Fahrenheit, so brass is useful in applications adjacent to hot manifolds.
Finally, brass is a fully recyclable material, and scrap brass has high scrap value.
