Accompanying metals
The term accompanying metal is often used in different contexts and without a uniform definition, for example as a synonym for alloying companion, alloying element and accompanying element. The term accompanying element is mainly used for by-products that unintentionally end up in the end product during the manufacturing process (e.g. when reducing ore). The terms alloying companion and alloying element are mainly used for elements that are specifically added to other elements or that occur naturally in alloys. These different interpretations and uses of the term mean that, depending on the author and source, very different metals are declared as accompanying metal.
In current scientific work and discourse, the totality of metals in the periodic table is divided into three groups. Depending on the area of application, all metals belong either to the base metals , to the technology metals or to the accompanying metals . The latter are accordingly defined as metals that cannot be assigned to either the base metals or the technology metals. These are mainly elements that are contained in the ore body, but are rarely used in alloys or products. These include, for example, mercury, thallium or cadmium (see Figure 1).
The metal wheel shows the relationship between the different metals in nature and in recycling and illustrates which accompanying metals can arise in the different metallurgical processes.
Individual evidence
- ↑ M. Simon: Editorial . In: World of Metallurgy - ERZMETALL . tape 72 , no. 4 , 2019, ISSN 1613-2394 , p. 185-186 ( gdmb.de ).
- ^ MA Reuter, A. van Schaik, J. Gutzmer, N. Bartie, A. Abadías Llamas: Challenges of the Circular Economy - A material, metallurgical and product design perspective. In: Annual Review of Materials Research . tape 49 , 2019, p. 253-274 ( annualreviews.org [accessed October 1, 2019]).