Tungsten alloy is different from hard alloy
Tungsten alloy and cemented carbide are both tungsten alloy products of transition metal, which can be used in aerospace, aviation, navigation and other fields. However, due to different added elements, composition ratio and production process, their properties and uses are quite different.
1. Definition
Tungsten alloy, also known as high specific gravity alloy, is a kind of tungsten powder as the main raw material, nickel, iron, copper and other elements as auxiliary materials of the alloy. Tungsten content is generally between 85% and 99%.
Cemented carbide, also known as tungsten steel, is a kind of refractory metal carbide such as tungsten carbide as the main component, cobalt, nickel, molybdenum and other elements as a binder alloy. The content of binder is generally between 10% and 20%.
2. Performance
High specific gravity alloy has high melting point, density, strength and hardness, good plasticity, heat resistance, corrosion resistance, impact resistance, oxidation resistance and shielding effect.
Tungsten steel also has similar properties to tungsten alloy, but its thermal hardness and wear resistance advantages are very obvious, mainly reflected in 500℃ basically unchanged, still has a high hardness at 1000℃. However, its brittleness is very high, so it is machined.
3. The production process
Preparation steps of tungsten alloy: 1) Material preparation: tungsten compounds such as ammonium tungstate, auxiliary materials such as nickel, iron, copper and other elements or compounds; 2) Powder making: spray drying and mechanical alloying method; 3) forming: the tungsten powder and forming agent after mixing, extrusion injection into the forming machine, you can prepare complex shape parts; 4) Sintering: the microstructure of the alloy after sintering treatment is more uniform and the comprehensive performance is higher.
4. The use
Tungsten alloy is mainly used as counterweight (such as automobile crankshaft, mobile phone vibrator, etc.), shielding parts (such as medical collimator, shielding tank, etc.), heat insulation screen (such as vacuum furnace heat insulation screen, etc.), jewelry (such as necklace, ring, etc.) and military products (such as bullets, armour-piercing bullets, warheads, etc.).
Cemented carbide is mainly used for hardware molds (such as wire drawing molds, bolt molds, nut molds, etc.), cutting tools (such as turning tools, milling knives, planer knives, etc.), decorations (such as rings, pendants, bracelets, ear nails, etc.), rock drilling tools, mining tools, drilling tools, rocket nozzle.
