Encyclopedia of Tungsten carbide rods

Tungsten carbide is well-known for its properties, and nowadays, can be made into various tungsten carbide products, including tungsten carbide buttons, tungsten carbide dies, tungsten carbide wear parts, and so on. And tungsten carbide rods are one of the tungsten carbide products. In case you may have many questions about tungsten carbide rods, this article is to introduce tungsten carbide rods in as detail as possible as the following aspects:

1. What are tungsten carbide rods?

2. Elements of tungsten carbide rods;

3. How to make tungsten carbide rods?

4. How to cut tungsten carbide rods?

5. Advantages of tungsten carbide rods;

6. Application of tungsten carbide rods;

WHAT ARE TUNGSTEN CARBIDE RODS?

Tungsten carbide rods, also known as tungsten carbide round bars, are made of cemented carbide, which is a type of composite material manufactured by powder metallurgy. As a product of tungsten carbide, carbide rods also have better properties such as high hardness, wear resistance, and corrosion resistance.

ELEMENTS OF TUNGSTEN CARBIDE RODS

Cemented carbide consists of a refractory metal compound and bonding metal so tungsten carbide rods are inorganic material composed of tungsten and carbide atoms in equal proportions. The raw material tungsten carbide powder is a light gray powder and has a carbon content that is three times higher than that of steel. As the tungsten carbide has high hardness, only after diamond, the only abrasive way to polish tungsten carbide is the cubic boron nitride

HOW TO MAKE TUNGSTEN CARBIDE RODS?

1. Prepare raw materials;

High-quality tungsten carbide powder and cobalt powder will be well-prepared for manufacturing tungsten carbide rods.

2. Ball milling;

The mixture of tungsten carbide powder and cobalt powder will be put into the ball milling machine according to a certain grade and grain size. The ball milling machine has the ability to manufacture powder of any grain size, like fine and ultra-fine powder.

3. Spray drying;

After ball milling, the tungsten carbide mixture becomes a tungsten carbide slurry. And for finishing compacting and sintering, we should dry up the mixture. The dry spray tower can achieve this. 

4. Compacting;

There are three methods that can be used to compact tungsten carbide rods. They are die pressing, extrusion pressing, and dry-bag isostatic pressing.

Die pressing is pressing the tungsten carbide with a die mold. This process is used for manufacturing most tungsten carbide production. There are two kinds of ways to press tungsten carbide with a die mold. One for the small size of production, they are pressed automatically by a machine. The larger ones are compacted by a hydraulic press machine, which will produce more pressure.

Extrusion pressing can be used to press tungsten carbide bars. In this process, there are two kinds of forming agents used widely. One is cellulose, and the other one is paraffin. Using cellulose as forming agent can produce high-quality tungsten carbide bars. Tungsten carbide powder is pressed into a vacuum environment and then out continuously. But it takes a long time to dry the tungsten carbide bars before sintering. Using paraffin wax also has its characteristics. When the tungsten carbide bars are discharging, they are a hard body. So it doesn’t take a long time to dry. But the tungsten carbide bars produced with paraffin as its forming agent have a lower qualified rate.

Dry-bag isostatic pressing can also be used to press tungsten carbide bars, but only for that under 16mm diameter. Otherwise, it will be easy to break. During the dry-bag isostatic pressing, the forming pressure is high, and the pressing process is fast. Tungsten carbide bars after dry-bag isostatic pressing have to be ground before sintering. And then it can be sintered directly. In this process, the forming agent is always paraffin.

5. Sintering;

During sintering, cobalt powder gets melted because of its low melting point and binds the tungsten carbide particle tightly. During the sintering, the carbide rods will shrink apparently, so it is very important to calculate shrinkage before sintering in order to achieve the desired tolerance.

6. Machining;

In order to reach accuracy tolerances, the majority of the rod blanks will need to be centerless ground and provide other services, including, length cutting, chamfering, slotting, and cylindrical grinding.

7. Inspection;

In order to assure both quality and performance, the essential qualities of the raw material, RTP, and raw sintered components are examined and analyzed. We will carry out a string of comprehensive checks, including testing the straightness, sizes, and physical performance of the object, etc. 

You can also get more information on How Long Will It Take To Produce Carbide Rods.

HOW TO CUT TUNGSTEN CARBIDE RODS?

As tungsten carbide rods can be used for multiple purposes, the sizes needed are different. Sometimes, the users need to cut the long tungsten carbide rods into shorter ones. Here are two ways to cut tungsten carbide rods.

1. Cutting with a tabletop grinder;

Different tabletop grinders behave differently. When cutting tungsten carbide rods with a table grinder, the worker should mark the area where you will be cutting the carbide rods and press the carbide rods against the diamond grinding wheel firmly with both hands. The tungsten carbide rods should be removed from the cutter as far as possible and cooled in clean water. 

2. Cutting with a cutting tool;

Workers should place tungsten carbide rods into a vice tightly enough but don’t apply excessive pressure. The diamond cutting wheel should be tightened to the grinder so that it won’t move. Workers should make the area where will be cut, and then start the grinder and cut the carbide rods directly.

ADVANTAGES OF TUNGSTEN CARBIDE RODS

1. Compared with high-speed steel cutting tools, tungsten carbide rods are more cost-effective and efficient. They have a longer lifespan so that they can serve for a long time;

2. Tungsten carbide rods are able to tolerate extreme temperatures and can spin at very high speeds;

3. When it comes to finishing, tools made from tungsten carbide rods can deliver superior performance than another type;

4. Tungsten carbide rods have high resistance to crack;

5. Carbide rods are the financial choice to avoid making frequent tool purchase.

APPLICATION OF TUNGSTEN CARBIDE RODS

With many good properties of tungsten carbide, including high red hardness, weldability, and great hardness, carbide rods can be widely used in various industries. Tungsten carbide round bars can be manufactured into drills, end mills, and reamers. They can be tools for papermaking, packing, printing, and cutting various materials, like solid wood, density boards, non-ferrous metal, and gray cast iron. Tungsten carbide rods are popularly used to process other materials, like tungsten carbide milling cutters, aviation tools, milling cutters, cemented carbide rotary files, cemented carbide tools, and electronic tools.

As a professional manufacturer of tungsten carbide products, with more than 10 years of history, ZZBETTER is committed to providing you high quality and durable tungsten carbide rods. And we can assure you that every tungsten carbide rod sent to you, is inspected and well-packed. If you are interested in tungsten carbide round bars and want more information and details, you can CONTACT US by phone or mail at the left, or SEND US MAIL at the bottom of the page.