Tungsten carbide has attracted great interest to both engineers and academics for the sake of its excellent properties such as hard and wear-resistance, high melting point and chemically inert. It has been applied in numerous important industries including aerospace, oil and gas, automotive, semiconductor and marine as mining and cutting tools, mould and die, wear parts, etc., which also has a promising future particularly due to enabling to resist high temperature and are extremely hard.
Tungsten carbide (chemical formula: WC) is a chemical compound (specifically, a carbide) containing equal parts of tungsten and carbon atoms. In its most basic form, tungsten carbide is a fine gray powder, but it can be pressed and formed into shapes for use in industrial machinery, cutting tools, abrasives, armor-piercing rounds, other tools and instruments, and jewelry.
Sintered tungsten carbide cutting tools are very abrasion resistant and can also withstand higher temperatures than standard high speed steel tools. Carbide cutting surfaces are often used for machining through materials such as carbon steel or stainless steel, as well as in situations where other tools would wear away, such as high-quantity production runs. Because carbide tools maintain a sharp cutting edge better than other tools, they generally produce a better finish on parts, and their temperature resistance allows faster machining. The material is usually called cemented carbide, hardmetal or tungsten-carbide cobalt: it is a metal matrix composite where tungsten carbide particles are the aggregate and metallic cobalt serves as the matrix. Manufacturers use tungsten carbide as the main material in some high-speed drill bits, as it can resist high temperatures and is extremely hard.
