The Production of the Carbide Wear Inserts

Tungsten carbide insert is one of the strongest materials in the world. Many oilfield industries prefer that their down-hole tools be equipped with tungsten carbide inserts. Do you know how to produce the cemented carbide inserts?

Generally, cemented carbide wear inserts are made from WC powder and Cobalt powder.

The main Production Process is as below:

1) Formula as to grade

2) Powder wet milling

3) Powder drying

4) Pressing to different shapes

5) Sintering

6) Inspection

7) Packing

Formula as to special grade according to applications

All of our tungsten carbide fishing & milling inserts are manufactured in our special grade, providing a heavy-duty metal cutting grade of tungsten carbide. Its extreme toughness is well suited to downhole applications, providing excellent performance when cutting steel.

Firstly the WC powder, cobalt powder, and doping elements will be mixed according to the standard formula by experienced Ingredients.

Mixing and wet ball milling

The mixed WC powder, cobalt powder, and doping elements will be put into a wet milling machine. The wet ball milling will last 16-72 hours as to different production technologies.

Powder drying

After the mixture, the powder will be spray dried to get dry powder or granulate.

If the forming way is extrusion, the mixed powder will be mixed again with adhesive. 

Making molds

Now we have most molds of the carbide wear inserts. For some customized products in different shapes and sizes, we will design and make a new mold. This process will need at least 7 days. If it is the first to produce the new types of carbide inserts, we will make samples first to check the sizes and physical performance. After approval, we will produce them in large quantities.

Pressing

We will use the mold to press the powder to a shape according to the design.

The tungsten carbide wear inserts in small sizes will be pressed by an auto-pressing machine. Most of the inserts are shaped by an auto-pressing machine. The sizes will be more accurate, and the production speed will be faster.

Sintering

At bout 1380℃, the cobalt will flow into the free spaces between the tungsten carbide grains. 

The sintering time is about 24 hours, depending on different grades and sizes.

After sintering, can we send it to the warehouse? ZZBETTER carbide's answer is no.

We will do lots of rigorous inspections, such as testing the straightness, sizes, physical performance, and so on. 

If you are interested in tungsten carbide products 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.