Tungsten carbide is a high-density metal made by combining tungsten and carbon. Because of its extremely high density, it has an extremely high melting point, which makes it the hardest form of metal. No harsh chemicals can react with it, which makes it rust-free.
Tungsten carbide is used in various industrial projects. Even in the smallest things, like ballpoint pens to search for oil and gas, tungsten carbide is used. Here, we are going to shed light on some of the common but major industries where tungsten carbide plays a major role.
Mining Industry
Mining is a vast industry in which mountains, land, or hard rocks are dug for all the time. To perform such a heavy task and dig into surfaces, it’s important to use a hard material, such as tungsten carbide.
During the digging in these areas, normal steel often gets damaged with little use, so to solve this problem, small buttons made with tungsten carbide metal are used in front of the drill bits. When the hard surface first hits these buttons, drilling becomes more efficient because the button doesn’t break and remains sharp throughout the process.
When making tunnels, large machinery is used, with large cutter heads mounted at the front, which help in the easy cutting of the mountain.
Food Processing
In food processing factories, the major concerns are always hygiene and machine corrosion. In factories, the major tasks are cutting vegetables and meat, grinding meat, and using a homogenizer.
For example, during the cutting of vegetables and meat, the food goes into machines with moving blades that cut it automatically. These blades are made of tungsten carbide, which helps them last longer and doesn’t require shutting down the whole machine again to change blades.
During the mincing or grinding of meat, bones often get caught in the blade, and if steel blades are used, then they are damaged very early. Tungsten blades are stronger than other blades, and they remain sharp even if they encounter small bones during cutting.
Stationary Items
Tungsten carbide is often used in office supplies. For example, if we look at the ball pen nib, it is quite hard and seems unbreakable. Mostly in expensive pens, tungsten carbide coating is used because the pen’s ink contains chemicals that can react with common steel, and the pen also doesn’t wear out after long use.
There are also large paper cutters used in offices that cut almost 500 to 1000 pages. Their blades are made of tungsten carbide because it lasts longer. Stationary items like electric shavers, staplers, and pins also use tungsten carbide.
Electrical Appliances
As we know, tungsten has the highest melting point, which makes it resistant to heat and corrosion. Due to this property, it has vast uses in electrical appliances. It is used in contact points in switches, relays, and AC contactors. When the plug is on or off, the contacts don’t melt or fuse together.
To extend the bulb’s lifespan, tungsten carbide is used as the filament. Because tungsten has a high melting point, it can glow white-hot without quickly thinning out.