The beginning of tungsten carbide production may be traced to the early 1920's, when the German electrical bulb company, Osram, looked for alternatives to the expensive diamond drawing dies used in the production of tungsten wires.

These attempts led to the invention of cemented carbide, which was soon manufactured and marketed by several companies for various applications where its high wear resistance was particularly important. The first tungsten carbide-cobalt grades were soon successfully applied in the cutting and milling of cast iron and, in the early 1930's, the pioneering cemented carbide companies launched the first steel-milling grades which, in addition to tungsten carbide and cobalt, also contained carbides of titanium and tantalum.

By the addition of titanium carbide and tantalum carbide, the high temperature wear resistance, the hot hardness and the oxidation stability of hardmetals have been considerably improved, and the WC-TiC-(Ta,Nb)C-Co hardmetals are excellent cutting tools for the machining of steel. Compared to high speed steel, the cutting speed increased from 25 to 50 m/min to 250 m/min for turning and milling of steel, which revolutionized productivity in many industries.

Shortly afterwards, the revolution in mining tools began. The first mining tools with cemented carbide tips increased the lifetime of rock drills by a factor of at least ten compared to a steel-based drilling tool.

 

Tungsten carbide,by the refractory hard metal metal bonded compounds and processes through the powder metallurgy material made of an alloy. Rigid compounds there are tungsten carbide, titanium carbide and tantalum carbide; bonded metals are cobalt, nickel and other metals, cobalt is used. Cemented carbide with high hardness, room temperature up to HRA93 ~ 94, and 500 ℃ in the following basic remain the same; its high-temperature red hardness, and the use of temperature up to 1000 ℃; flexural strength for the 1000 ~ 4000MPa, the compressive strength of 6000 MPa; room temperature rigidity, and no significant plastic deformation, wear-resistant high-speed steel capacity of about 15 ~ 20 times. In addition, the carbide is also resistant to corrosion, a small linear expansion coefficient and so on. Widely used in the manufacture of cutting tools, mining tools, dies and wear-resistant, corrosion-resistant components.

Commonly used are WC-based cemented carbide, titanium carbide and steel bonded carbide base. Tungsten carbide-based cemented carbide with cobalt as a bonding metal, and tungsten-cobalt alloy, tungsten-cobalt alloy of titanium, tungsten-cobalt alloy of tantalum, corrosion resistant alloys and alloys, such as ultra-fine grain. Ultra-fine grain tungsten carbide alloy largest particle size of not more than 1 micron, made suitable for low-speed cutting tool. TiC-based cemented carbide with nickel and molybdenum for metal bonding. Tungsten carbide and titanium carbide-based cemented carbide base used mainly for the production of cutting tools. Steel-bonded cemented carbide to steel as a bonding metal, with process ability, such as cutting, forging, heat treatment and so on. Mainly used in the manufacture of molds and wear-resistant, corrosion-resistant components.