Wear! What? ---Types of Tungsten Carbide Wear

Tungsten carbide is one of the most common materials in rock drill bits. With the properties of good temperature stability, hardness, and high melting point, tungsten carbide can be applied in many situations with high temperature and impact. Tungsten carbide products are made from tungsten carbide powder and a binder phase, usually cobalt. The binder phase, cobalt, can be added to decrease the hardness of the drill bit. Although tungsten carbide is known as one of the hardest materials in the world, it can be damaged if it is used in the wrong way or used for a long time. Wear is mainly divided into three kinds: abrasive wear, adhesive wear, and erosive wear.

Abrasive wear

When a tungsten carbide product is used to manufacture or cut some hard materials, abrasive wear may occur. The harder tungsten carbide products are, the more difficult to have abrasive wear. Abrasive wear can be categorized into two types, two-body abrasion, and three-body abrasion. Two-body abrasion system includes the tungsten carbide products and the workpiece going to be manufactured. In the system of three-body abrasion, one of the bodies is the particles created during the abrasive process and grinding between the other two bodies. Abrasive wear will not only leave obvious wear on the surface of the tungsten carbide products but also cause fatigue under the surface of the tungsten carbide products, which may increase the possibility of damage in the future.

Adhesive wear

Adhesive wear occurs when two materials rub together with sufficient force to cause the removal of material from the less wear-resistant surface. Adhesive wear happens on the tungsten carbide cutters or between the tungsten carbide and the drill bits. The main reason for the tungsten carbide buttons is the wrong usage of tungsten carbide buttons or the impact is beyond what the tungsten carbide can endure.

Erosive wear

In fact, there is another kind of tungsten carbide wear called erosive wear. Erosive wear is a process of progressive removal of material from a target surface due to repeated impacts of solid particles. High-quality tungsten carbide has good erosion wear resistance, so it seldom happens.

Tungsten carbide is the hardest material only less than diamond but it can also be damaged. To decrease the possibility of damage, it is better to use it in the right size and in a suitable condition.

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