What the Temper Designations of Copper Alloys Really Mean

The mechanical properties of a copper alloy can vary drastically depending on the thermal-mechanical processing of the alloy during production or post production of the material. The temper designation system is used for all forms of wrought and cast copper and copper alloy, except ingot. It is based on the sequences of basic treatments used to produce the various tempers. The temper designation follows the alloy designation, the two being separated by a hyphen. Basic temper designations consist of letters. Subdivisions of the basic tempers, where required, are indicated by one or more digits following the letter. These designate specific sequences of basic treatments, but only operations recognized as significantly influencing the characteristics of the product are indicated. If some other variation of the same sequence of basic operations is applied to the same alloy, resulting in different characteristics, additional digits are added to the designation.

The tables given below highlight the classification of tempers according to terminology used by manufactures of copper alloy and copper products in the US.

Annealed Tempers ‘OS’ series

OS-series tempers are designed to produce materials with specific standard or special grain size requirements by annealing.

Annealed Tempers ‘O’ series

O-series tempers are designed to produce materials with specific mechanical properties by annealing.

Cold-Worked Tempers

H-series tempers are designed to produce materials with specific quantities of stress-relieved, cold work and cold-worked (drawn) tempers, HR-tempers, order-strengthening tempers and HT-Tempers by cold working.

Manufactured Tempers

M series tempers are designed to produce materials by manufacturing operations that include casting and hot working.

Solution Heat-Treated Temper

TB-series tempers are designed to produce materials with solution heat treating precipitation hardenable or spinodal hardenable alloys.

Quench-Hardened Tempers

TQ-series tempers are designed to produce materials by quench hardening treatments.

Solution Heat-Treated and Cold-Worked Tempers

D-series tempers are designed to produce materials by controlled amounts of cold work of solution heat-treated precipitation hardenable or spinodal hardenable alloys.

Spinodal Heat Treated Temper

TX-series tempers are designed to produce materials by spinodal heat treatment of spinodal hardenable alloys.

Precipitation Heat-Treated Temper

F-series tempers are designed to produce materials by precipitation heat treatment of precipitation-hardenable alloys.

Cold-Worked and Precipitation Heat-Treated Tempers

TH-series tempers are designed in alloys that have been solution heat treated, cold worked, and precipitation heat treated.

Mill-Hardened Tempers

TM-series tempers are designed to produce heat-treated materials supplied by the mill resulting from combinations of cold work and precipitation heat treatment or spinodal heat treatment.

Cold Worked and Spinodal Heat Treated Tempers

TS-series tempers are produced in alloys that have been cold worked, spinodal heat treated and solution heat treated.

Precipitation Heat-Treated or Spinodal Heat-Treated, Cold-Worked, and Thermal Stress-Relieved Tempers

TR-series tempers are designed to be produced in spinodal heat-treated or cold-worked precipiation heat-treated alloys by thermal stress relief.

Precipitation Heat-Treated or Spinodal Heat-Treated and Cold-Worked Tempers

TL-series tempers are designed to be produced by cold working the spinodal heat-treated or precipitation heat-treated alloys.

Tube, Welded, Cold-Worked and Stress Relieved Tempers

WR-series tempers are designed as a result of forming, welding, cold working, and stress relieving when producing a tube.

Tube, Welded and Cold-Worked Tempers

WH-series tempers are designed as a result of forming, welding, and cold working when producing a tube.

Tube, As-Welded Tempers

WM-series tempers are designed as a result of forming and welding when producing a tube.