Stress Relaxation in Tension of CA 172 Copper-Beryllium

Stress relaxation data on commercially available copper-beryllium alloy 172 are presented. Test samples were subjected to strains of up to 2% and temperatures from 25 to 181°C. The data show that a high degree of relaxation occurs at higher temperatures and relaxation was found to be independent of the initial stress levels. Time-temperature plots of stress relaxation are presented for designing accelerated relaxation tests on the copper-beryllium alloy tested. The material in the tested condition is generally not used in spring applications and thus results of Austen which compare stress relaxation characteristics of copper-beryllium alloy 172 in the aged and unaged conditions are also presented.