Balco is a

nickel Nickel is a chemical element with symbol Ni and atomic number 28. It is a silvery-white lustrous metal with a slight golden tinge. Nickel is a hard and ductile transition metal. Pure nickel is chemically reactive but large pieces are slow ...

iron Iron () is a chemical element with symbol Fe (from la, ferrum) and atomic number 26. It is a metal that belongs to the first transition series and group 8 of the periodic table. It is, by mass, the most common element on Earth, right in ...

alloy An alloy is a mixture of chemical elements of which at least one is a metal. Unlike chemical compounds with metallic bases, an alloy will retain all the properties of a metal in the resulting material, such as electrical conductivity, ductilit ...

with a

thermal conductivity The thermal conductivity of a material is a measure of its ability to conduct heat. It is commonly denoted by k, \lambda, or \kappa. Heat transfer occurs at a lower rate in materials of low thermal conductivity than in materials of high thermal ...

similar to nickel but twice the

resistivity Electrical resistivity (also called specific electrical resistance or volume resistivity) is a fundamental property of a material that measures how strongly it resists electric current. A low resistivity indicates a material that readily allows ...

. It is used for making low cost resistance temperature sensors. It consists of 70% nickel and 30% iron. Balco is Carpenter Technology Corporation's brand name for this alloy consisting of 70% nickel and 30% iron. It is also sold by Harrison as "Hytemco". Its principal use is for

resistance thermometers Resistance thermometers, also called resistance temperature detectors (RTDs), are sensors used to measure temperature. Many RTD elements consist of a length of fine wire wrapped around a heat-resistant ceramic or glass core but other constructio ...

(resistance temperature detectors). These change their electrical resistances as a predictable function of temperature, making it useful as a thermometer with electrical output. Balco has a temperature coefficient of resistance of 0.00518 Ω/Ω/°C nearly as high as that of pure nickel (0.00672) but with much better linearity. It is also mechanically strong and fairly corrosion resistant. Pure platinum is preferred for the most precise resistance temperature detectorsD elements in spite of its price and lower temperature coefficient (0.00385). This is because of its long-term stability and repeatability.

References

Nickel alloys {{Alloy-stub

See also

References