Changes

Because of decreasing solubility of beryllium in nickel with decreasing temperature NiBe can be precipitation hardened similar to CuBe ''<xr id="fig:Phase diagram of nickel beryllium"/> (Fig. 5.49)''. The maximum soluble amount of Be in Ni is 2.7 wt% at the eutectic temperature of 1150°C. to achieve a high hardness by precipitation hardening NiBe, similar to CuBe, is annealed at 970 - 1030°C and rapidly quenched to room temperature. Soft annealed material is easily cold formed and after stamping and forming an hardening anneal is performed at 480 to 500°C for 1 to 2 hours.

<figure id="fig:Phase diagram of nickel beryllium">Fig. 5.49: Phase diagram of nickel-beryllium[[File:Phase diagram of nickel beryllium.jpg|right|thumb|Phase diagram of nickel-beryllium]]</figure> Commercial nickel-beryllium alloys contain 2 wt% Be. Compared to CuBe2 the NiBe2 materials have a significantly higher modulus of elasticity but a much lower electrical conductivity. The mechanical strength is higher than that of CuBe2 ''<xr id="fig:Precipitation hardening of NiBe2 soft at 480C"/> (Fig. 5.4050)'', the spring bending force limit can exceed values of over 1400 MPa and the fatigue strength reaches approximately 400 MPa. <figure id="fig:Precipitation hardening of NiBe2 soft at 480C">Fig. 5.50: Precipitation hardening of NiBe2 (soft) at 480°C[[File:Precipitation hardening of NiBe2 soft at 480C.jpg|right|thumb|Precipitation hardening of NiBe2 (soft) at 480°C]]</figure>