Archive for the ‘Tungsten Carbide Industrial Applications’ Category
Tungsten Carbide Coating
Tungsten carbide is a material that is renowned for its toughness, high melting point, and its high resistance to wear. Due to these characteristics, tungsten carbide is a preferred material used for industrial coatings where there is a demand for long lasting tools despite continued use. Aside from that, this material is also important in industries where there is a need to work faster and more efficiently to keep up with consumer demand.
Common industrial applications of tungsten carbide coating
1. Boat building. Today’s boats are often made of fiberglass to strike the balance between toughness and light weight. To cut fiberglass panels for boat building, tungsten carbide coated tools are often used to speed up the cutting process, saving the company time and money.
2. Steel milling. One of the oldest industrial applications of tungsten carbide is found in steel mills. In the 1930s, cemented carbide was invented to improve the speed and efficiency of milling steel. Compared to high speed steel which cut steel at a rate of only 25-50 m/min, milling with cemented carbide sped things up further up to 250 m/min. In addition to that, cemented carbide’s high melting point and toughness meant that it didn’t wear out easily. The cemented carbide coating used for these tools are often composed of a mix of tungsten carbide, titanium carbide, tantalum carbide, and cobalt.
3. Conveyor rollers. Another beneficiary of tungsten carbide’s high resistance to wear is the conveyor roller. Carbide can be used on friction bands that are mounted on rollers to prevent slippage. Tungsten carbide’s high resistance to wear also means it can be used regularly without needing to be replaced for long periods.
These three are only examples of some of the industrial applications of tungsten carbide They are also used in many other different industries including wood working, stone sculpting, and even in the tire industry.
