Tungsten carbide is a chemical compound that contains carbon and tungsten and is similar to titanium carbide. It was originally developed for use as a cutting tool, in machine tools applications, where it still finds wide use today. Cemented Tungsten Carbide is neither a metal nor is it a ceramic. It is a Cerametal although this isn't a widely used term. In most cases, tungsten carbide is simply referred to as carbide. Tungsten carbide alloys are prepared by reacting carbon and tungsten at a temperature of between 1400-2000ºC. The other method involves using a patented fluid bed process to mix Hydrogen and tungsten elements at a temperature of not less than 900ºC. Other methods are by the use of vapor deposition, which are still under investigation.

 

Tungsten carbide has melting point of 2870ºC and a low electrical resistivity of between 1.7-2.2 10¯ 7 ohm-m. For practical applications, it is alloyed with cobalt, a softer metal. This ceramic material is highly resistant to wear and its hard property makes it ideal for use in wear parts of machines or surfaces subject to corrosion, abrasion or high temperatures. Tungsten carbide has low ductility at high temperatures. It is also known for its high strength properties. As shown above, tungsten carbide exhibits good thermal and electrical conductivity. Adding 6-30% titanium carbide increases the above properties.

 

Tungsten carbide material is extremely hard at 91 HRA which is equivalent to 1500 Vickers 30. This material is very wear resistant, with some abrasion tests showing it at 30 times hard steel. It has good long-term dimensional stability, which makes a good material for gage applications.

 

Cemented Tungsten Carbide is extremely stiff, with a Young's modulus of elasticity of 98,000,000 pounds per square inch, compared with steel at 30,000,000 PSI. This high stiffness makes tungsten carbide balls a good choice for ball-sizing and they provide premier results as components of kinematic couplings.

 

Tungsten carbide's good performance at temperatures up to 800 degree Fahrenheit ( 427 centigrade ) make it a good choice in high temperature applications. It has good corrosive resistance in many environments. Tungsten carbide has a very low rate of thermal expansion, at 2 microinches per inch per degree Fahrenheit (4.9 X 10-4 per degree C). Steel is 6.4 and aluminum is 12 microinches per inch per degree Fahrenheit.

 

One of the very important features of this material is that it is electrically conductive, with a resistivity of two micro ohms per centimeter. This conductivity sets it apart from other hard stiff materials, such as ceramics and sapphire, because it allows it to be machined into complex forms by the Electrical Discharge Machining (EDM) process. Cemented Tungsten Carbide can be ground and lapped using diamond grit. The material is slightly magnetic. Small diameter balls can be picked up with a magnet. Cemented Tungsten Carbide is very heavy, with a density of .54 pounds per cubic inch or 15 grams per cubic centimeter.

 

Tungsten carbide is also used to brush off corrosion on steel parts. Tungsten carbide use is cheap and affordable to many industry standard operations and is therefore the favored option by made tungsten carbide suppliers. The materials durability has had many applications as the above article has shown.