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Strength comparison between copper and brass studs

I was facing a problem of copper stud 10 mm dia. breaking due to stress/ load on it causing the break down of the machine.

So I replaced the copper 10 mm Rod with 20 mm brass rod in the place. Now no problem exists but I want to know :

What are the difference in mechanical strength of the copper rod 10 mm and the brass rod 20 mm ?
Will there will be any problem to current carrying capacity ? Please explain.

Nitin Mhatre
Maintenance Engineer - Maharashtra, India
May 26, 2010

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Hi, Nitin. I certainly hesitate to offer structural or electrical design advice based on a quick and rough description, but as a general guidelines: there are many different brass compositions and different copper tempers, but brass is generally something like twice as strong as copper, and 30 percent as conductive. So you've gained substantial strength, and a little bit of conductivity.

Regards,

Ted Mooney, P.E.
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey
May 27, 2010

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Hi Ted,
Both electrical and thermal conductivities of copper are more than that of brass! It is difficult to beat copper in this regard.

H.R. Prabhakara - Consultant
Bangalore Plasmatek - Bangalore Karnataka India
May 30, 2010

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Hi H.R.,

Yes. Nitin replaced the copper studs with brass studs of twice the diameter (4x the cross sectional area), so as a practical matter he probably has about the same current carrying capacity.

My use of the word "conductivity" in my response to him was wrong though, and words matter, so thanks for the correction!

Regards,

Ted Mooney, P.E.
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey
July 2012

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Without knowing exactly how they work I would like to point that if the studs function as mechanical fuses their additional strength puts your machine in high risk.

Guillermo Marrufo
Monterrey, NL, Mexico
May 31, 2010