You may have heard Sister Sledge’s ‘We Are Family’, in which she sings merrily, “We are family, I got all my sisters with me.” Well, a family of super alloys isn’t all that different.

INCOLOY® is one family that certainly has all of its sisters with it – and brothers! From the 800 series, to 925X, Incoloy provides fantastic benefits for wide-ranging engineering applications. Invented for specific uses with highly corrosive acids and alkali, this one family that definitely won’t let you down.

The INCOLOY® range of super alloys is produced by Special Metals Corporation. This ‘family’ of alloys are known for their high corrosion resistances and capabilities at high temperatures.

We manufacture our entire range of pipe fittings and control valves in Incoloy which is perfect for use in process piping, heat treatment, oil and gas piping and acid production. Incoloy 825 is a steady favourite for its resistance to pitting, localised corrosion and reducing or oxidising acids.

Why Should I Use ‘INCOLOY’?

Incoloy are a range of alloys that provide fantastic results within many extreme environments. For industrial use, such as processing plants, an alloy like this becomes essential.

When aspects of safety, maintenance and efficiency are at play, only the best alloys are chosen. Due to its high resistances, strength and general quality, 825 and similar alloys are by far a great choice for longevity on an industrial scale.

As a favourite within the Oil and Gas industry, this material is able to cope with diverse conditions such as;

• The separation of corrosive fluids
• Processing liquefied natural gas
• Flow lines in subsea walls
• Tubing for fluid conveyance

Note: One of the most prominent characteristics of the Incoloy range is their ease of fabrication.

INCOLOY® Range Of Alloys

You’re not short for choice, here’s the full list of the INCOLOY family:

• INCOLOY 800’s
  800, 800H, 800HT, 801, 802, 803, 825, 890 and DS Incoloy alloy 330
• INCOLOY 028, 020
• INCOLOY alloy HX and alloy 864
• INCOLOY alloy 925
• INCOLOY alloy 945
• INCOLOY alloy 945X
• INCOLOY alloy 25-6M0 and 25-6HN
• INCOLOY alloy 27-7M0

A closely related family are other nickel-alloys such as INCONEL, particularly the 600’s into 700 ranges. These alloys hold similar properties but it’s important to remember that their uses can be vast and distinctive.

Machinability Of Incoloy

Incoloy are known as a category ‘C’ alloy, which is considered reasonably easy to machine. However, it’s important to take into the account the context which individual material type and machining processes are in place.

In general, nickel alloys require fundamental understanding of machinery type, to the correct tooling, to traditional instruction vs. advancements. Group ‘C’ have similar mechanical properties to austenitic stainless steels except for higher temperature strengths.

Type ‘C’ alloys are typically machined in the cold-drawn and/or stress relieved conditions. These alloys include 802, 825 and 800HT. The basic principles to be understood are; work hardening, choice of tooling, lubricants and coolants and finally, turning/boring and grooving.

Pipe fittings, twin and single ferrule compression fittings and valves are available in Incoloy 825 material as standard from Waverley Brownall. Other materials from the Incoloy or Inconel family are considered on request for specialised requirements.

Helpful links:

• What is the difference between Inconel and Incoloy? – Continental Steel
• Incoloy – Wikipedia
• Incoloy 825 (Waverley Brownall Special Metals)