What is tungsten carbide?

Recently, the world's largest investment management corporation, BlackRock, in a market research report said that currently, they prefer U.S. and Japanese equities to European equities because of the energy problem stemming from Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

"Russia's invasion of Ukraine caused terrible injuries, a surge in commodity prices, and food and energy security issues," BlackRock, "It is stifling the economic growth and fulling inflation driven by supply problems. Europe is most affected among those developed markets, as it is trying to wean itself off Russian energy."

The volatile international political situations will continue to affect the markets and prices of many commodities like the WC powder.

Introduction to Tungsten Carbide
Tungsten carbide (chemical formula WC) is a compound (especially a carbide) containing equal amounts of tungsten and carbon atoms. 
In its most basic form, tungsten carbide is a fine grey powder, but it can be pressed into shape by sintering and used in industrial machinery, cutting tools, chisels, abrasives, armor-piercing bullets, and jewelry.
Tungsten carbide is about twice as hard as steel, with Young's modulus of about 530-700GPa, twice the density of steel - almost halfway between lead and gold. 
 
High strength, high density, and high hardness are the distinguishing characteristics of tungsten carbide, making it a versatile material with a variety of uses. Tungsten carbide can withstand extremely high temperatures, making it an excellent material for machining and cutting tools, even furnaces, and can conduct electricity. Abrasion and corrosion resistance are among the other properties of tungsten carbide.
Tungsten carbide has a high melting point of 2,870 °C (3,140 K). It has a boiling point of 6,000 °C (6,270 K), thermal conductivity of 110W·m (-1) ·K (-1), and thermal expansion coefficient of 5.5μm·m (-1) ·K (-1) at a pressure equivalent to 1 atmosphere (101.325 kpa). 
Tungsten carbide is very hard, with a Morse rating of about 9 to 9.5 and a Vickers number of about 2600. It has a young's modulus of about 530-700 gpa, a volume modulus of 630-655gpa, and a shear modulus of 274GPa. Its ultimate tensile strength is 344 MPa, its ultimate compressive strength is about 2.7GPa, and Poisson's ratio is 0.31. 
The p-wave velocity (sound speed) through the tungsten carbide thin rod is 6220 m/s. 
Tungsten carbide has a low resistivity of about 0.2 µ ω ·m, comparable to some metals, such as vanadium. 
 
Tungsten Carbide VS Diamond
Tungsten carbide is a very hard material. It is predicted to have a Mohs hardness of 8.5 to 9, second only to diamonds. This makes it a valuable metal with many different uses.  Tungsten carbide bits are very tough for operations where other metal bits can become blunt and break.
 
Tungsten Carbide VS Steel
Steel has three times less rigidity than tungsten. This rigidity makes tungsten stronger than steel and titanium. Tungsten is very durable and can withstand many penalties in any job.  Whether it's tungsten powder or tungsten carbide blades, this compound gets the job done. 
 
Tungsten Carbide Application
Buildings
Buildings need to use tools of high strength and toughness so that they can withstand the materials used to form most structures. Materials such as cement and asphalt are difficult to penetrate and require exceptionally durable and strong blades or drills, such as those made of tungsten carbide. Tungsten carbide is commonly used in building materials such as saws and drill bits because it is almost unbreakable.
 
Industrial alloys 
To make electronics, construction projects, industrial gears, and even aviation equipment, alloys are made by mixing metals with other metals or elements. These alloys have specific properties, such as strength or heat resistance, which are necessary for each product and its use. Alloys made from tungsten carbide are a particularly popular choice for building materials and tools. About 17% of tungsten carbide is used to make these alloys. 
 
Production of surgical tools 
Tungsten carbide is commonly used to make surgical instruments because it improves their performance and is resistant to corrosion. It increases the life and strength of surgical tools. The properties of tungsten carbide, such as its ability to sharpen while maintaining hardness, are well suited to the surgical industry.
 
Others
Because of its durability and strength, tungsten carbide can be used in sports equipment such as golf clubs. It can be used for Musical Instruments such as guitar slides. Another important use of tungsten carbide is for the nibs of ballpoint pens. Tungsten carbide is also used in electrical components, especially light bulbs, because of its heat resistance.  Another application of tungsten carbide is in armor-piercing ammunition because it is a durable and tough material. In addition, another interesting and avant-garde application of tungsten carbide is in space satellites, because it can resist extreme temperature fluctuations.
 
Tungsten Carbide Supplier
Luoyang Tongrun Nano Technology Co. Ltd. (TRUNNANO) is a trusted global chemical material supplier & manufacturer with over 12-year-experience in providing super high-quality chemicals and Nanomaterials, including carbide powder, nitride powder, graphite powder, zinc sulfide, calcium nitride, 3D printing powder, etc.
If you are looking for high-quality tungsten carbide powder, please feel free to contact us and send an inquiry. ([email protected])
 

The resurgence of the global COVID-19 pandemic and the impact of the Russia-Ukraine conflict continued to cause high volatility in commodity prices. Stubbornly high inflation and rising commodity prices are likely to influence each other and thus push each other higher. The price of the WC powder may not decrease significantly in the short term.

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