What Are the Benefits of Tungsten Carbide?

The wear resistance and ultra-smooth finish of tungsten carbide ring gauges are ideal for demanding manufacturing environments where the use of tool steel may result in premature ring gauge wear. The ring gauge contains a tungsten carbide bushing with a wall thickness of 3 mm to 10 mm, depending on the ring diameter, securely mounted in a knurled steel ring.

Tungsten carbide ring gauges are used to check the outside diameter of cylindrical objects and to calibrate other gauges or standards, such as calipers, inside micrometers or bore gauges.

Why Choose Tungsten Carbide Material?

Tungsten carbide is a compound of tungsten and carbon, with the molecular formula WC and molecular weight 195.85. It is a black hexagonal crystal with metallic luster and hardness similar to diamond, and is a good conductor of electricity and heat. Tungsten carbide is insoluble in water, hydrochloric acid and sulfuric acid, but easily soluble in nitric acid-hydrofluoric acid mixture. Pure tungsten carbide is fragile, if mixed with a small amount of titanium, cobalt and other metals, it can reduce the brittleness. Tungsten carbide used as steel cutting tool is often added with titanium carbide, tantalum carbide or their mixture to improve the anti-burst ability. The chemical properties of tungsten carbide are stable. Tungsten carbide powder is used in cemented carbide production materials.
Tungsten carbide is a compound composed of tungsten and carbon, which is chemically stable and is the main production material of cemented carbide. Today, Sidi will introduce the relevant performance characteristics of tungsten carbide to let you have more understanding of tungsten carbide.

Tungsten carbide is known as the hard king, in addition to its high hardness, it also has characteristics such as wear resistance, corrosion resistance and high temperature resistance.

Among many important materials, tungsten carbide is one of the hardest materials. Tungsten carbide can be used to make various kinds of parts, and these parts will be responsible for the most difficult wear resistance tasks. Tungsten carbide can be used to make various tools for cutting metals. It has a wide range of applications.

First, let's talk about the title of "King of Hardness".

When it comes to the hardness of materials, people seem to know that steel is harder than aluminum. Among the various types of steel, tool steel is harder than mild steel. The hardness of steel generally relies on the presence of martensite in its structure. If the steel contains more martensite, the harder it will be. And this martensite, such as the amount of carbon, the more it will be harder. As most of the steel rely on martensite to be hard, so martensite has "hard ancestor" of the name. If the structure of steel in addition to martensite, plus chromium carbide particles, then its strong hardness and more into the level. Many tool steels rely on the cooperation of chromium carbide and martensite to achieve high hardness.

However, despite the hardness of tool steels, they are still far inferior to carbide alloys made with tungsten carbide as the main component. Although the hardness of alumina and silicon carbide is comparable to that of tungsten carbide, their industrial applications are very limited. Although gold carbide is harder than tungsten carbide, it has no industrial use. Tungsten carbide, in addition to its hardness, is also very beautiful and durable. So tungsten carbide easily ascended to the throne of "hardness king".

General composition of tungsten carbide alloys

Although the main component of early tungsten carbide alloys was tungsten carbide, cobalt was used as the binding agent (i.e., cobalt was used to bind the tungsten carbide grains together). However, if the percentage of tungsten carbide is reduced and replaced by titanium carbide or tantalum carbide, materials with different properties can be made. If the amount of tungsten carbide and titanium carbide is higher, the hardness is higher. However, the toughness is relatively reduced.

Some properties of tungsten carbide alloy materials

In terms of wear resistance, corrosion resistance, high temperature, and hardness, tungsten carbide alloy materials are about 100 times stronger than the hardest steel. Any machine or mechanical device that needs good wear resistant material, it is better to consider using tungsten carbide alloy material first. The cost of the product may be higher, but it is more durable and will reduce the chance of part failure or replacement. Parts made from this material are used in a wide range of industrial applications.

Based on the advantages of tungsten carbide, tungsten carbide ring gauge also has the advantages of wear resistance, corrosion resistance, etc. If you want to know more, please click here​.