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Designation: B 140/B 140M – 97e2

Standard Specification for

Copper-Zinc-Lead (Red Brass or Hardware Bronze) Rod, Bar
and Shapes1
This standard is issued under the fixed designation B 140/B 140M; the number immediately following the designation indicates the year
of original adoption or, in the case of revision, the year of last revision. A number in parentheses indicates the year of last reapproval.
A superscript epsilon (e) indicates an editorial change since the last revision or reapproval.

This standard has been approved for use by agencies of the Department of Defense.

e1 NOTE—Table 2 has been editorially corrected in March 2000.

e2 NOTE—Table 3 has been editorially corrected in December 2000.

1. Scope * copper alloys, refer to Terminology Standard B 846.

1.1 This specification establishes the requirements for 4. Ordering Information
copper-zinc-lead (leaded red brass or hardware bronze) rod,
bar, and shapes of UNS Alloy Nos. C31400, C31600, and 4.1 Contracts or purchase orders for product to this speci-
C32000 available for screw machine applications. fication should include the following information:
1.2 The values stated in inch-pound units or SI units are to 4.1.1 ASTM designation and year of issue,
be regarded separately as standard. Within the text, SI units are 4.1.2 Copper Alloy UNS No. designation (Section 1),
shown in brackets. The values in each system are not exact 4.1.3 Temper designation (Section 7),
equivalents; therefore, each system shall be used independently 4.1.4 Quantity; total weight or length, or number of pieces
of the other. Combining values from the two systems may of each temper, form, or alloy.
result in nonconformance with the specification. 4.1.5 Dimensions—diameter, distance between parallel
faces,
2. Referenced Documents 4.1.6 How furnished; specific lengths with or without ends,
2.1 ASTM Standards: and
B 249 Specification for General Requirements for Wrought 4.1.7 When product is purchased for agencies of the U.S.
Copper and Copper-Alloy Rod, Bar, Shapes and Forgings2 Government. (B 249 or B 249M).
B 249M Specification for General Requirements for 4.2 The following options are available to this specification
Wrought Copper and Copper-Alloy Rod, Bar, Shapes and and should be specified in the contract or purchase order when
Forgings [Metric]2 required:
B 601 Practice for Temper Designations for Copper and 4.2.1 Heat identification or traceability details,
Copper Alloys—Wrought and Cast2 4.2.2 Certification (Specifications B 249 or B 249M), and
B 846 Terminology for Copper and Copper Alloys2 4.2.3 Mill Test Reports (Specification B 249 or B 249M).
E 8 Test Methods for Tension Testing of Metallic Materials3 5. Material and Manufacture
E 8M Test Methods for Tension Testing of Metallic Mate-
rials [Metric]3 5.1 Material:
E 62 Test Methods for Chemical Analysis of Copper and 5.1.1 The starting material shall be cast billets, logs, or rods
Copper Alloys (Photometric Method)4 of Copper Alloy UNS Nos. C31400, C31600, or C32000 and
E 478 Test Methods for Chemical Analysis of Copper shall be of such soundness and structure as to enable them to
Alloys4 process into the desired product.
5.2 Manufacture:
3. Terminology 5.2.1 The product shall be manufactured by such hot work-
3.1 For the definitions of general terms related to copper and ing, cold working, straightening, and annealing processing
needed to produce a uniform wrought structure and obtain the
1
properties specified in the purchase order or contract.
This specification is under the jurisdiction of ASTM Committee B05 on Copper
and Copper Alloys and is the direct responsibility of Subcommittee B05.02 on Rod,
Bar, Wire, Shapes and Forgings.
6. Chemical Composition
Current edition approved Feb. 10, 1997. Published October 1997. Originally 6.1 The material composition shall conform to the require-
published as B 140 – 41T. Last previous edition B 140 – 92. ments of Table 1 for the Copper Alloy UNS No. specified in the
2
Annual Book of ASTM Standards, Vol 02.01.
3
Annual Book of ASTM Standards, Vol 03.01. ordering information.
4
Annual Book of ASTM Standards, Vol 03.05.

*A Summary of Changes section appears at the end of this standard.

Copyright © ASTM, 100 Barr Harbor Drive, West Conshohocken, PA 19428-2959, United States.

1
 B 140/B 140M
TABLE 1 Chemical Requirements 9.2 Diameter or Distance Between Parallel Surfaces:
Composition, % 9.2.1 Rod—Refer to Table 1 for round, hexagonal and
Element Copper Alloy UNS No. octagonal rod.
C31400 C31600 C32000 9.2.2 Bar—Refer to Table 8 for thickness and Table 10 for
Copper 87.5 to 90.5 87.5 to 90.5 83.5 to 86.5
width.
Lead 1.3 to 2.5 1.3 to 2.5 1.5 to 2.2 9.3 Lengths—Refer to Tables 13 and 14.
Iron, max 0.10 0.10 0.10 9.4 Straightness—Refer to Table 16.
Nickel 0.7 max 0.7 to 1.2 0.25 max
Zinc remainder remainder remainder
9.5 Shapes—The dimensional tolerances for shapes shall be
Phosphorus ... 0.04 to 0.10 ... agreed upon between the manufacturer or supplier and the
purchaser, and shall be specified in the order or purchase
contract.
6.1.1 These compositional limits do not preclude the pres-
10. Test Methods
ence of other elements. When required, limits may be estab-
lished and analysis required for unnamed elements by agree- 10.1 Chemical Analysis:
ment between the supplier and the purchaser. 10.1.1 The material composition shall, in case of dispute, be
6.2 For copper alloys in which zinc is specified as the determined as follows:
remainder, either copper or zinc may be taken as the difference Element ASTM Test Method
between the sum of all elements analyzed and 100 %. When Copper E 478
copper is so determined, that difference value shall conform to Lead E 478, atomic absorption
the requirements given in Table 1. Iron E 478
Nickel E 478, photometric
6.3 When all elements listed in Table 1 for the Copper Alloy Phosphorus E 62
UNS No. prescribed in the ordering information are deter- Zinc E 478, titrimetric
mined, the sum of results shall be 99.6 % minimum.
11. General Requirements
7. Temper 11.1 The following sections of Specifications B 249 or
7.1 Tempers, as defined in Practice B 601, available to this B 249M constitute a part of this specification:
specification are O60 (soft anneal), H02 (half-hard), and H04 11.1.1 Terminology,
(hard). 11.1.2 Materials and Manufacture,
11.1.3 Workmanship, Finish and Appearance,
8. Mechanical Property Requirements 11.1.4 Sampling,
8.1 Tensile Requirements: 11.1.5 Number of Tests and Retests,
8.1.1 Product available to this specification shall conform to 11.1.6 Specimen Preparation,
the requirements specified in Table 2 (customary units) or 11.1.7 Test Methods,
Table 3 (SI units) for the Copper Alloy UNS No. specified in 11.1.8 Significance of Numerical Limits,
the ordering information when tested in accordance with Test 11.1.9 Inspection,
Methods E 8 or E 8M. 11.1.10 Rejection and Rehearing,
11.1.11 Certification,
9. Dimensions, Mass and Permissible Variations 11.1.12 Test Reports (Mill),
9.1 Refer to the appropriate paragraphs in Specifications 11.1.13 Packaging and Package Marking, and
B 249 or B 249M with particular reference to the following 11.1.14 Supplemental Requirements.
tables: 11.2 In addition, when a section with a title identical to one

TABLE 2 Tensile Requirements

Yield Strength Elongation in
Temper Designation Tensile at 0.5 % 4 3 Diameter
Copper Alloy Diameter or Distance Between
Width, in. Strength, Extension or Thickness of
UNS No. Parallel Surfaces, in.
Standard Former min, ksiA Under Load, Specimen
min, ksiA min, %B
C31400, C32000 O60 soft anneal all forms all sizes ... 35 10 25
C31400, C31600, HO2 half hard rod:
C32000 round, hexagonal, ⁄ and under
12 ... 50 30 7
and octagonal over 1⁄2 ... 45 27 10
bar: over 1 ... 40 25 12
rectangular and square 1 and under 2 and under 40 25 12
C31600 H04 hard rod: over 1 over 2 40C 25C 12C
round, hexagonal, 2 and under ... 60 50 6
and octagonal
bar: 1 and under 2 and under 60 50 6
rectangular and square
A
ksi = 1000 psi.
B
In any case, a minimum gage length of 1 in. shall be used.
C
In the case of bars either over 1 in. in thickness or over 2 in. in width, or both, these values shall apply.

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 B 140/B 140M
TABLE 3 Tensile Requirements
Yield Strength
Temper Designation Tensile at 0.5 %
Copper Alloy Diameter or Distance Between ElongationA
Width, mm Strength, Extension
UNS No. Parallel Surfaces, mm min, %
Standard Former min MPa Under Load,
min, MPa
C31400, C32000 O60 Soft anneal all forms all sizes ... 240 70 25
C31400, C31600, HO2 half hard rod:
C32000 round, hexagonal, 12 and under ... 345 205 7
and octagonal over 12 to 25 ... 310 185 10
bar: over 25 ... 275 170 12
rectangular and 25 and under 50 and under 275 170 12
square
C31600 H04 hard rod: over 25 over 50 170B 275B 12B
round, hexagonal, 50 and under ... 415 345 6
and octagonal
bar: 25 and under 50 and under 415 345 6
rectangular and
square
A
Elongation values are based on a gage length of 5.65 times the square root of the area for dimensions greater than 2.5 mm.
B
In the case of bars either over 25 mm in thickness or over 50 mm in width, or both, these values shall apply.

12. Keywords
of those referenced in 11.1 appears in this specification, it 12.1 hardware bronze; hardware bronze rod; hardware
contains additional requirements that supplement those which bronze shapes; leaded brass shapes; leaded red brass bar;
appear in Specification B 249 or B 249M. leaded red brass rod

SUMMARY OF CHANGES

This section identifies the principle changes to this specification that have been incorporated since the 1992
issue as follows:

1. Combined customary in.-lb and SI unit specifications into a 5. General Requirements section has been completely changed.
single document. 6. Material and Manufacturing section has been expanded.
2. Scope section revised to accommodate the combining of the 7. Chemical Composition section has been reworded to clarify
two documents. the intent.
3. Referenced Documents section has been expanded. 8. Other changes made to conform to the ASTM Form and
4. Ordering Information section has been expanded. Style guidelines.

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