Pure copper rod
Pure copper rods are copper rods with a copper content of at least 99.5%. They possess excellent electrical and thermal conductivity, ductility, and corrosion resistance, making them a crucial material in the electronics, electrical engineering, machinery manufacturing, and architectural decoration industries. Often referred to as “red copper rods,” pure copper rods are typically purple-red in color. They are soft and easily formed through forging, extrusion, and stretching processes, resulting in products of varying sizes and shapes, such as round, square, and hexagonal rods, to meet diverse application requirements. Due to their excellent properties, pure copper rods play an irreplaceable role in industrial production, serving as a key material for power transmission, heat conduction, and structural connections.
The production process for pure copper rods primarily involves smelting, casting, rolling (or extrusion), drawing, and annealing. First, electrolytic copper (purity above 99.95%) is smelted in a reverberatory or induction furnace at a controlled temperature of 1100-1150°C. A deoxidizer (such as phosphor copper) is added to remove oxygen from the molten copper and prevent defects such as pores. The molten copper is then poured into a crystallizer to form ingots or billets. The billets undergo surface cleaning to remove scale and impurities. After heating, the billets are hot-rolled or extruded to form bar blanks of a specific size. The temperature and deformation during the rolling or extrusion process must be carefully controlled to ensure dimensional accuracy and mechanical properties. For high-precision pure copper rods, multiple cold drawing passes are required to gradually reduce the diameter and improve dimensional accuracy. Annealing is performed after each drawing pass to eliminate work hardening and restore the material’s ductility. The final product undergoes processes such as straightening, cutting, and surface treatment to obtain pure copper rods that meet the requirements.
Pure copper rod’s superior performance characteristics make it irreplaceable in a wide range of applications. Its excellent electrical conductivity, reaching over 90% IACS (International Annealed Copper Standard), far exceeding that of other metals, makes it an ideal choice for conductive components. Its outstanding thermal conductivity, approximately 398 W/(m · K) , makes it suitable for heat dissipation components. Its excellent ductility, with an elongation exceeding 30% , allows it to be bent, stamped, forged, and processed into complex shapes. It also exhibits excellent corrosion resistance, maintaining excellent stability in air, fresh water, and non-oxidizing acids. However, it is susceptible to the formation of patina (basic copper carbonate) in environments such as seawater and humid air. However, this patina forms a protective film that prevents further corrosion. Furthermore, pure copper rod exhibits excellent weldability, allowing it to be joined using methods such as brazing and argon arc welding, ensuring both electrical conductivity and strength at the joints.
Pure copper rods are widely used across various industries. In the electrical and electronics sector, they are often used to make cable connectors, conductive bars, and switch contacts, leveraging their excellent conductivity to ensure stable current transmission. In mechanical manufacturing, they are used as raw materials for bearings, bushings, valves, and other parts, extending their service life through their wear and corrosion resistance. In architectural decoration, pure copper rods are processed into railings, handrails, and decorative components. After surface treatment, they exhibit a simple and elegant appearance, combining both decorative and practical features. In heat exchange equipment, pure copper rods are used to make radiators and heat exchange tubes, leveraging their excellent thermal conductivity to improve the equipment’s heat dissipation efficiency. With the development of new energy, electronic information, and other industries, the use of pure copper rods in lithium battery electrodes, 5G communication equipment, and other fields is also increasing.
Industry trends indicate that the production of pure copper rods is moving toward high precision, high performance, and functionalization. Through improved production processes, such as the adoption of integrated continuous casting and rolling technology, the dimensional accuracy and surface quality of pure copper rods can be improved, achieving diameter tolerances within ±0.01 mm and surface roughness as low as Ra0.8. High-purity pure copper rods (copper content exceeding 99.99%) are being developed to meet the stringent purity requirements of high-end electronics. Surface-modified pure copper rods, such as tin-plated and chrome-plated ones, are being developed to enhance corrosion resistance and weldability, expanding their application range. Furthermore, to address copper resource shortages and price fluctuations, the industry is actively exploring copper alloy alternatives and recycled copper recycling technologies to reduce reliance on virgin copper. In the future, with the development of high-end manufacturing, demand for pure copper rods will continue to grow, driving the industry to achieve greater breakthroughs in material research and development, process innovation, and green production.
