4047 wire drawing

We got wire breaks sometimes during the drawing of 4047 wire. Even the chemistry of the rod is almost the same from heat to heat. Could I play some game with the trace elements to increase the draw ability of 4047 rod?

Hello again wujunw_99,

You may have an interesting metallurgical problem on your hands, sleuthing out the differences between different casting heats. There are obviously differences that you haven't yet found.

As far as modifying the concentration of the alloying elements in your 4047 alloy, this is a very large step that must be taken with the overall written approval of your company and set up as a research project. Never experiment on standard production heats that are destined for sale. This is to protect you if nothing else.

Sincerely,
Peter J. Stewart-Hay
Principal
Stewart-Hay Associates
www.Stewart-Hay.com

I am not a metalurgist but I am fairly certain that there are things that you can do in the area of wire drawing process control, lubricants, and die angles, etc. that would be a whole lot easier then altering the chemical composition/make up of the trace elements in the wire. I know from personal experience that the smalles amount of silver added to copper makes a big change in annealability. Right now you have a single problem - wire breaks. If you change the chemical makeup you may introduce untold number of variables (problems) into the equation (process).

First I would check around and find out what is typical pounds/wirebreak. You might not have a problem. Secondly I would check with the die people to see what die profiles they suggest. I would also talk to the lubricant people and ask what they suggest. I would also take a good look at the breaks. What do they look like? The appearance of the breaks can tell you a lot.
I know this sounds elementary but I would also check die elongation and machine capstan speeds to make certain that my dies match my machine.

All of these things are easy to do compared to the playing with the trace metals! If you do all of these things and still have problems, come back let us know what you did, the results, and perhaps someone out there will have other or better suggestions.

I know: 4047 is aluminum:

Si CU Mg Fe Zn Mn AL
11.0 - 13.0% .30% .10% .8% .20% .15% Remainder

RB/Spectre

usually wire breaks in 4047 are from primary Si.
casting practices can help that. you CAN play games with chemistry to get the material to run better. I do this on many alloys all the time. This one in particular. BUT, if I guess your product I'd say what ever you do you have to be careful because you can cause weldability issues if you aren't.
you're part of L.Electric? If so don't you guys cast billet then extrude the 4047? I also thought you guys had your own little rod caster.
That is what I am familiar with on this product line. Either will work and give you a slightly different product.

Wujunw,

did you ever get your 4047 to run correctly?
did you look for the primary Si? If you post the size in microns of what you see I will tell you how far you are from making a product that draws well.