Tungsten Carbide Cutting Tools Properties

Mentions of carbide or tungsten carbide in industrial contexts usually refer to these cemented composites.

Tungsten carbide cutting tools properties. Titanium carbide tic and tungsten carbide are important industrially and are used to coat metals in cutting tools. Tungsten carbide wc itself has a very high hardness beyond corundum or alumina and its hardness is rarely reduced as the operating temperature increases. Cemented carbides commonly use tungsten carbide titanium carbide or tantalum carbide as the aggregate. It consists of tungsten tantalum and titanium carbide with cobalt as a binder when the binder is nickel or molybdenum then it is called cermet.

It consists of fine particles of carbide cemented into a composite by a binder metal. However it lacks sufficient toughness which is an essential property for cutting tools. Tungsten carbide is one of the best metals that have been found to withstand excessive forces that cause impact damages. A binderless high purity tungsten carbide cutting tool material made by a sintering procedure comprising the steps of.

They can withstand very high speed cutting operation. Compressive strength is higher than virtually all melted and cast or forged metals and alloys. And providing a vacuum or inert atmosphere during the. Cemented carbide is a hard material used extensively as cutting tool material as well as other industrial applications.

Providing an ultrafine stoichiometric tungsten carbide powder with a specific surface area of more than 4 m 2 g and a non oxide purity of equal to or better than 99 9. Some of them e g. Some exhibit a range of stoichiometries being a non stoichiometric mixture of various carbides arising due to crystal defects. And avoiding any contamination by nickel cobalt iron of said tungsten carbide powder during any manipulation or powder processing prior to sintering.

For more indepth information on the properties of specific grades of tungsten carbide or more information on carbide and other tool materials visit our tool tipping material index. Cemented carbide tools are extremely hard. Tungsten carbide wc one of the most widely used cutting tool material in modern machine shops. Without these additives when cutting ferrous materials the tungsten carbide tool may experience a chemical reaction between the tool and the chips of the work piece that leaves craters in the tool especially at high cutting speeds.

Strength tungsten carbide has very high strength for a material so hard and rigid. These carbides have metallic properties and are refractory. Most of the time carbide cutters will leave a better surface finish on the p. Other materials such as titanium carbide tantalum carbide and niobium carbide are added to improve the properties of the material when cutting.

Carbide cutting surfaces are often used for machining through materials such as carbon steel or stainless steel and in applications where steel tools would wear quickly such as high quantity and high precision production. Therefore with tungsten carbide hardfacing your cutter tools will have better hardness and strength properties.