Thermal and structural analysis of high-tin bronze of chemical composition corresponding to the composition of the singing bowl

Technical copper alloys with tin are commonly named bronzes. Modern tin bronzes used in industry contain between 1 and 9 at.% of tin. Those alloys are used mostly for mechanical working. An increase in tin content in bronzes cooled in standard conditions results with appearance next to heterogeneous structure α and also other structures, including adverse phase δ. In ancient times, bronzes with tin content up to 14 at.% were used in order to manufacture ornaments or items used for everyday life such as singing bowl. An analysis of discussed bowl structure indicated dominant \(\beta_{1}^{'}\) and \(\gamma_{1}^{'}\) martensite phase, which is an evidence of quenching in order to preserve the high-temperature β and γ phase structure. The main goal of this work was to obtain high-tin bronze structure corresponding to phases identified in singing bowl. On the basis of chemical composition and structural analysis of the singing bowl, a binary technical alloy was prepared by induction melting process. On such prepared alloy, a differential thermal analysis was performed in order to determine the presence of phase transitions. Based on results of thermal analysis, the temperature ranges and cooling conditions of heat treatment were investigated in order to perform structural analysis. Additionally, the structure of the alloy was analyzed in context to achieve a similar martensite phase as a matrix with α secondary phase.