Brass material and a process for the preparation thereof

Claim 1

In a process for the preparation of a brass material from a semi-finished material constituted of a copper-zinc alloy of about 61 to 65% by weight of copper with the remainder being zinc, said semi-finished material is cold worked and subsequently subjected to a temperature- and time-measured heat treatment utilized for malleable alloys; the improvement comprising initial formation of the α solid solution only by annealing said alloy at temperatures of 450° to 700° C. and for an annealing period of about 20 hours at 450° C. and for about 15 minutes at 700° C. to totally dissolve all of the β phase; thereafter cold working said alloy to a degree of deformation of at least 50%; and subsequently subjecting said alloy to a heat treatment leading to a β 1 phase precipitation and recrystallization at temperatures of between 200° and 350° C., and an annealing period of between 1 minute and 500 hours.