Tungsten carbides hardness

SiSiC and, especially SSiC, are displacing the chemically less-resistant tungsten carbide (hard metal) and the thermal-shock-sensitive aluminum oxide in modem mechanical seals, where they are used in the form of slide rings. The excellent wear resistance of sintered SiC, combined with its excellent chemical resistance and outstanding tribological characteristics, ensure that mechanical seals made from this material last longer, which in turn results in much-reduced maintenance and production costs for pump-dependent processes in the chemical industry [564]. 

Aluminum silicate, zirconium silicate, alumina, zirconia, ceria, magnesia, tin oxide, silicon carbide, boron carbide, tungsten carbide Hard coatings, abrasives, polishing media... 

Hydrodynamic principles for gas bearings are similar to those involved with Hquid lubricants except that gas compressibility usually is a significant factor (8,69). With gas employed as a lubricant at high speeds, start—stop wear is minimized by selection of wear-resistant materials for the journal and bearing. This may involve hard coatings such as tungsten carbide or chromium oxide flame plate, or soHd lubricants, eg, PTFE and M0S2. 

Another important function of metallic coatings is to provide wear resistance. Hard chromium, electroless nickel, composites of nickel and diamond, or diffusion or vapor-phase deposits of sUicon carbide [409-21-2], SiC , SiC tungsten carbide [56780-56-4], WC and boron carbide [12069-32-8], B4C, are examples. Chemical resistance at high temperatures is provided by aUoys of aluminum and platinum [7440-06-4] or other precious metals (10—14). 

Cemented Carbides. Cemented carbides contain mostiy tungsten carbide and lesser amounts of other hard-metal components, embedded in a matrix of cobalt (see Carbides, cemented carbides). 

The four most important carbides for the production of hard metals are tungsten carbide [12070-12-17, WC, titanium carbide [12070-08-5] TiC, tantalum carbide [12070-06-3J, TaC, and niobium carbide [12069-94-2] NbC. The binary and ternary soHd solutions of these carbides such as WC—TiC and WC—TiC—TaC (NbC) are also of great importance. Chromium carbide (3 2) [12012-39-0], molybdenum carbide [12011-97-1], MoC, and... 

Most successful composites combine the stiffness and hardness of a ceramic (like glass, carbon, or tungsten carbide) with the ductility and toughness of a polymer (like epoxy) or a metal (like cobalt). You will find all you need to know about them in Chapter 25. 

Cheapest of all are the particulate composites. Aggregate plus cement gives concrete, and the composite is cheaper (per unit volume) than the cement itself. Polymers can be filled with sand, silica flour, or glass particles, increasing the stiffness and wear-resistance, and often reducing the price. And one particulate composite, tungsten-carbide particles in cobalt (known as "cemented carbide" or "hard metal"), is the basis of the heavy-duty cutting tool industry. 

The above measurements all rely on force and displacement data to evaluate adhesion and mechanical properties. As mentioned in the introduction, a very useful piece of information to have about a nanoscale contact would be its area (or radius). Since the scale of the contacts is below the optical limit, the techniques available are somewhat limited. Electrical resistance has been used in early contact studies on clean metal surfaces [62], but is limited to conducting interfaces. Recently, Enachescu et al. [63] used conductance measurements to examine adhesion in an ideally hard contact (diamond vs. tungsten carbide). In the limit of contact size below the electronic mean free path, but above that of quantized conductance, the contact area scales linearly with contact conductance. They used these measurements to demonstrate that friction was proportional to contact area, and the area vs. load data were best-fit to a DMT model. 

Carbide-based cermets have particles of carbides of tungsten, chromium, and titanium. Tungsten carbide in a cobalt matrix is used in machine parts requiring very high hardness such as wire-drawing dies, valves, etc. Chromium carbide in a cobalt matrix has high corrosion and abrasion resistance it also has a coefficient of thermal expansion close to that of steel, so is well-suited for use in valves. Titanium carbide in either a nickel or a cobalt matrix is often used in high-temperature applications such as turbine parts. Cermets are also used as nuclear reactor fuel elements and control rods. Fuel elements can be uranium oxide particles in stainless steel ceramic, whereas boron carbide in stainless steel is used for control rods. 

Figure 12-7. Piston rods. Precision-manufactured rolled threads and induction hardening provide high fatigue strength and long life in heavy duty service. Standard rod material is AISI 4142 carbon steel other materials are available as required. Tungsten carbide coatings are also available for maximum surface hardness. Pistons are locked securely onto the rods. For higher pressure, smaller bore cylinders, the piston may be integral with the rod. (Used by permission Bui. 85084, 1992. Dresser-Rand Company.)...

The companion of insert bits cutting structure is shown in Figure 4-142 [44]. Initially, the tungsten carbide tooth bit was developed to drill extremely hard, abrasive cherts and quartzites that had been very costly to drill because of the... 

Select a tungsten carbide insert bit with no offset and conical or double cone inserts when drilling hard and abrasive limestone, hard dolomite, chert, pyrite, quartz, basalt, etc. Use bit type 7-4 to 8-3. 

The use of tungsten carbide alloyed with cobalt, well known as Hard Metal is used for cutting tools because of its excellent wear resistance but finds little use as a corrosion resistant material. 

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