60-Palladium 40-Silver Electrical Contact Alloy
60Pd-40Ag alloy is a precious metal alloy formulated for use in electrical contacts. It has the lowest electrical conductivity among the precious metal electrical contact alloys in the database.
The properties of 60Pd-40Ag alloy include six common variations. This page shows summary ranges across all of them. For more specific values, follow the links immediately below. The graph bars on the material properties cards further below compare 60Pd-40Ag alloy 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
100 GPa 15 x 106 psi
Elongation at Break
1.1 to 28 %
Knoop Hardness
110 to 220
Poisson's Ratio
0.38
Shear Modulus
37 GPa 5.3 x 106 psi
Shear Strength
220 to 350 MPa 32 to 51 x 103 psi
Tensile Strength: Ultimate (UTS)
340 to 720 MPa 50 to 100 x 103 psi
Thermal Properties
Latent Heat of Fusion
140 J/g
Melting Completion (Liquidus)
1360 °C 2480 °F
Melting Onset (Solidus)
1310 °C 2390 °F
Specific Heat Capacity
240 J/kg-K 0.057 BTU/lb-°F
Thermal Conductivity
29 W/m-K 17 BTU/h-ft-°F
Thermal Expansion
15 µm/m-K
Other Material Properties
Density
11 g/cm3 710 lb/ft3
Electrical Conductivity: Equal Volume
4.1 % IACS
Electrical Conductivity: Equal Weight (Specific)
3.2 % IACS
Common Calculations
Stiffness to Weight: Axial
4.9 points
Stiffness to Weight: Bending
14 points
Strength to Weight: Axial
8.4 to 18 points
Strength to Weight: Bending
9.6 to 16 points
Thermal Diffusivity
11 mm2/s
Thermal Shock Resistance
16 to 34 points
Alloy Composition
Pd | 59.5 to 60.9 | |
Ag | 39.1 to 40.5 | |
Cu | 0 to 0.1 | |
res. | 0 to 0.3 |
All values are % weight. Ranges represent what is permitted under applicable standards.
Followup Questions
Similar Alloys
Further Reading
ASTM B731: Standard Specification for 60% Palladium-40% Silver Electrical Contact Material