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Ductile Hardened ASTM B540 Palladium Alloy

Ductile hardened ASTM B540 is ASTM B540 palladium in the cold worked (strain hardened) condition. The graph bars on the material properties cards below compare ductile hardened ASTM B540 to: precious metal electrical contact alloys (top), all alloys in the same category (middle), and the entire database (bottom). A full bar means this is the highest value in the relevant set. A half-full bar means it's 50% of the highest, and so on.

Mechanical Properties

Elastic (Young's, Tensile) Modulus

110 GPa 16 x 106 psi

Elongation at Break

9.1 %

Fatigue Strength

350 MPa 50 x 103 psi

Knoop Hardness

340

Poisson's Ratio

0.38

Shear Modulus

39 GPa 5.6 x 106 psi

Shear Strength

690 MPa 100 x 103 psi

Tensile Strength: Ultimate (UTS)

1170 MPa 170 x 103 psi

Tensile Strength: Yield (Proof)

930 MPa 130 x 103 psi

Thermal Properties

Latent Heat of Fusion

140 J/g

Melting Completion (Liquidus)

1220 °C 2220 °F

Melting Onset (Solidus)

1020 °C 1860 °F

Specific Heat Capacity

240 J/kg-K 0.057 BTU/lb-°F

Thermal Expansion

14 µm/m-K

Other Material Properties

Density

13 g/cm3 790 lb/ft3

Electrical Conductivity: Equal Volume

5.5 % IACS

Electrical Conductivity: Equal Weight (Specific)

3.9 % IACS

Common Calculations

Resilience: Ultimate (Unit Rupture Work)

99 MJ/m3

Resilience: Unit (Modulus of Resilience)

4030 kJ/m3

Stiffness to Weight: Axial

4.7 points

Stiffness to Weight: Bending

12 points

Strength to Weight: Axial

26 points

Strength to Weight: Bending

19 points

Thermal Shock Resistance

58 points

Alloy Composition

Palladium (Pd)Pd 34 to 36
Silver (Ag)Ag 29 to 31
Copper (Cu)Cu 13.5 to 14.5
Gold (Au)Au 9.5 to 10.5
Platinum (Pt)Pt 9.5 to 10.5
Zinc (Zn)Zn 0.8 to 1.2
Residualsres. 0 to 0.3

All values are % weight. Ranges represent what is permitted under applicable standards.

Followup Questions

Further Reading

ASTM B540: Standard Specification for Palladium Electrical Contact Alloy