The growing interest in white precious alloys drives the research of new materials that could satisfy the market requirements. What requires deeper study is the use of 950 palladium-based alloys. The use of palladium provides many of the interesting features of platinum alloys at a lower price. This study is aimed at describing the effect of mechanical working, thermal treatments and welding operations on two prototype alloys. The first prototype alloy has a medium hardness. The second one shows the possibility of an increase in hardness up to 170 HV in as-cast metal and up to 270 HV in cold-worked metal. The problems encountered during the most common working operations, such as the production of wires, rings or tubes, will be discussed. This study also aims to show the procedure for establishing the working cycles on the basis of microstructural investigation.

Author: Paolo Battaini