Incoloy is a trademark of the Special Metals Corporation, a manufacturer of specialty alloys. It encompasses several families of nickel-based alloys, each with their own unique characteristics. Inconel is the family of nickel-chromium-based alloys known for their high heat and corrosion resistance. Incoloy is the family of nickel-based alloys known for their resistance to oxidation, carburization, and sulfidation at elevated temperatures. Both Inconel and Incoloy are used in high-temperature applications such as jet engines, industrial furnaces, and process heaters.
Inconel and Incoloy alloys are corrosion-resistant, heat-resistant nickel-based alloys used in a wide variety of applications. Inconel alloys are particularly known for their use in hostile environments such as high-temperature, chemically corrosive, and radiation environments. They have excellent strength retention, exceptionally good weldability, and outstanding oxidation resistance. This makes Inconel perfect for applications such as heat exchangers, chemical processing, and nuclear reactors. Incoloy alloys, on the other hand, offer superior resistance to carburization, sulfidation, and high-temperature oxidation. This makes them perfect for applications such as industrial furnaces, jet engines, and process heaters. Both Inconel and Incoloy alloys are used in numerous applications throughout a variety of industries due to their resilience to many environmental conditions.
Inconel and Incoloy alloys are generally composed of a combination of nickel and chromium or nickel, chromium, and iron. These materials have varying heat-resistant properties, depending on the amounts of each element present. The common base alloy used in manufacturing Inconel is a nickel-based alloy, typically containing 72.5% nickel, 14.7% chromium, and 6.3% molybdenum. Other Inconel alloys may contain additional elements depending on the desired application. For example, Inconel 625 is an alloy designed primarily for its exceptional corrosion resistance at temperatures up to 1200°F (650°C). It also contains 58% nickel, 20% chromium, 9.5% molybdenum and 3.5% niobium. Incoloy alloys, on the other hand, typically consist of 70-80% nickel, 16-22% chromium, and a combination of iron, aluminum, silicon, and other trace elements. Incoloy 909, for example, is composed of 73% nickel, 20.5% chromium and 4.8% iron.
Inconel and Incoloy alloys are available in a variety of forms including bars, rods, sheets and plates, tubes, forgings and castings, wires, fasteners, foils, and machined parts. The most common forms in which these materials are produced are hot- and cold-rolled sheets, plates, bars, rods, wires and forgings. Their superior heat resistance and corrosion resistance make them ideal for use in numerous industries such as power generation, petrochemical, oil and gas, aerospace, automotive, and chemical processing. In addition to the many applications in which Inconel and Incoloy are used, they are both cost-effective, high-performance materials that require minimal maintenance.
In addition to their strength and corrosion resistance properties, Inconel and Incoloy are also easy to fabricate using traditional hot and cold working techniques. These alloys can be cold-formed, hot-formed, machined, welded, and soldered. They have excellent weldability, making them suitable for many different applications. For instance, Inconel alloys can be used in the fabrication of high-pressure vessels, furnace components, pipes and tubes, oil and gas production equipment, and more. Incoloy alloys, on the other hand, can be used in the fabrication of heat exchangers, process heaters, and turbine components, among others.
Insummary, Inconel and Incoloy alloys are corrosion-resistant, heat-resistant nickel-based alloys used in many industries due to their outstanding resistance to oxidation and carburization. They are composed of varying combinations of nickel, chromium, iron, molybdenum, aluminum, silicon and other trace elements. Inconel is particularly known for its outstanding strength retention and weldability, whereas Incoloy is known for its superior oxidation resistance. Inconel and Incoloy are available in a variety of forms and can be cold-formed, hot-formed, machined, welded, and soldered for many different uses. Their exceptional strength and corrosion resistance, combined with their ease of fabrication, make them ideal materials for use in many industries.
