Annealed ASTM B541 Gold Alloy
Annealed ASTM B541 is ASTM B541 gold in the annealed condition. It has the lowest strength and highest ductility compared to the other variants of ASTM B541 gold. The graph bars on the material properties cards below compare annealed ASTM B541 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 15 x 106 psi
Elongation at Break
14 %
Fatigue Strength
250 MPa 36 x 103 psi
Knoop Hardness
220
Poisson's Ratio
0.4
Shear Modulus
38 GPa 5.5 x 106 psi
Shear Strength
410 MPa 59 x 103 psi
Tensile Strength: Ultimate (UTS)
670 MPa 97 x 103 psi
Tensile Strength: Yield (Proof)
480 MPa 70 x 103 psi
Thermal Properties
Latent Heat of Fusion
90 J/g
Melting Completion (Liquidus)
1110 °C 2020 °F
Melting Onset (Solidus)
930 °C 1700 °F
Specific Heat Capacity
170 J/kg-K 0.041 BTU/lb-°F
Thermal Expansion
13 µm/m-K
Other Material Properties
Density
17 g/cm3 1090 lb/ft3
Electrical Conductivity: Equal Volume
7.7 % IACS
Electrical Conductivity: Equal Weight (Specific)
4.0 % IACS
Common Calculations
Resilience: Ultimate (Unit Rupture Work)
83 MJ/m3
Resilience: Unit (Modulus of Resilience)
1090 kJ/m3
Stiffness to Weight: Axial
3.4 points
Stiffness to Weight: Bending
9.0 points
Strength to Weight: Axial
11 points
Strength to Weight: Bending
9.8 points
Thermal Shock Resistance
36 points
Alloy Composition
| Au | 70.5 to 72.5 | |
| Cu | 13.5 to 15.5 | |
| Pt | 8.0 to 9.0 | |
| Ag | 4.0 to 5.0 | |
| Zn | 0.7 to 1.3 | |
| res. | 0 to 0.4 |
All values are % weight. Ranges represent what is permitted under applicable standards.
Followup Questions
Further Reading
ASTM B541: Standard Specification for Gold Electrical Contact Alloy