Age Hardened ASTM B540 Palladium Alloy
Age hardened ASTM B540 is ASTM B540 palladium in the aged (precipitation hardened) condition. It has the highest strength and lowest ductility compared to the other variants of ASTM B540 palladium.
The graph bars on the material properties cards below compare age 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
1.1 %
Fatigue Strength
350 MPa 50 x 103 psi
Knoop Hardness
380
Poisson's Ratio
0.38
Shear Modulus
39 GPa 5.6 x 106 psi
Shear Strength
700 MPa 100 x 103 psi
Tensile Strength: Ultimate (UTS)
1240 MPa 180 x 103 psi
Tensile Strength: Yield (Proof)
1000 MPa 150 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)
13 MJ/m3
Resilience: Unit (Modulus of Resilience)
4660 kJ/m3
Stiffness to Weight: Axial
4.7 points
Stiffness to Weight: Bending
12 points
Strength to Weight: Axial
27 points
Strength to Weight: Bending
20 points
Thermal Shock Resistance
61 points
Alloy Composition
| Pd | 34 to 36 | |
| Ag | 29 to 31 | |
| Cu | 13.5 to 14.5 | |
| Au | 9.5 to 10.5 | |
| Pt | 9.5 to 10.5 | |
| Zn | 0.8 to 1.2 | |
| res. | 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