Tungsten is a rare metal element with a high melting point up to 3422 °C and have a high density similar to gold. Moreover, making jewelry is desirable as it doesn’t get rusted or oxidized easily in its natural form.
There are various tungsten elements like tungsten ball, tungsten carbide ball, and many others, but then to find pure tungsten is rare. Pure tungsten is rare to find as it is usually mixed with various substances like carbon, cobalt, nickel, and titanium to form a particular object.
One of the everyday uses of tungsten is in the form of a tungsten ball. Tungsten balls are also known as carbide balls, designed and made from cemented carbide. They have multiple advantages and uses because of their dynamic properties and specifications such as high hardness, bending resistance, wear resistance, corrosion resistance, and suitable for a harsh environment.
Moreover, their dimensional stability and High hardness make tungsten balls the best choice for inertial navigation systems, ball screws, precision hydraulic valves, slideways, gauging, high-load bearings, linear bearings, checking instruments, and meters. Further, it has multiple uses, like ballizing, to work-harden and improves fretting fatigue strength.
Characteristics of Tungsten balls
Tungsten carbide balls are ideal and perfect for applications in which high and extreme hardness is required by high resistance to wear and impact. Moreover, they can bear extreme conditions, making them ideal for elevated temperatures, humidity, corrosion, abrasion, and poor lubrication conditions.
Composition of tungsten carbide balls
The Tungsten Carbide balls are mainly composed of several elements, including:
- A carbide (WC, TiC) micron powder is of high hardness refractory metal. It also comprises cobalt (Co) or nickel (Ni), molybdenum (Mo) as a binder in a vacuum furnace.
- The powder metallurgy products sintered in the hydrogen reduction furnace are common hard alloys YG, YN, YT, and YW.
Useful Characteristics of Tungsten
Tungsten is a refractory metal that contains niobium, molybdenum, rhenium, and tantalum. Also, all the constituents present in tungsten have high melting points. The melting end of tungsten ranges up to 6192°F (3422°C). Additionally, this high melting point enhances the importance and characteristics of tungsten, including:
- Resistance to oxidation and creep
- The lowest vapor pressure of all metals
- Extreme hardness
- High electrical resistance
- High tensile strength
Properties and features of tungsten
Tungsten is preferred in various industries and has unique properties and features because of its unique combination and characteristics. For example, tensile strength at upwards of 3000°F (1650°C) shows that tungsten is preferred for high-temperature application elements. Its high melting point and unique characteristic at high temperatures can maintain low vapor pressure.
Mechanical Properties of tungsten
- It has an ultimate tensile strength of 220,000 psi.
- It has an ultimate compressive strength of 643,000 psi.
- The transverse rupture strength of tungsten is 228,000 psi.
- Tungsten has a modulus of elasticity of 98,000,000
- The density of tungsten is (approx.) 0.54 lb./in.
- The specific gravity of tungsten is 14.85-15.5
- It has the capacity of electrical conductivity slightly and magnetically.
- It has a low thermal expansion rate.
- It has a higher hardness.
- It has a Rockwell of A 90.5-91.5
Moreover, well standard tungsten carbide balls are the best and verified by experts using a gauge, which gives an accurate grade to ±0.0001 (grades 10, 15, and 25). It helps the users maintain the ABMA standards quality requirements.
Features of tungsten carbide balls
There are various features of tungsten carbide balls that make them unique and appropriate for multiple applications, such as:
- It has high hardness.
- It has excellent wear resistance.
- It has good corrosion resistance.
- It has high bending resistance.
- It is best for a harsh service environment.
- It is the best alternative of all steel ball products—hard alloy ball hardness ≥90.5, density = 14.9g / m³.
- The large size tungsten ball makes them more suitable for grinding.
These features of tungsten ball have specific pros and cons, such
- Pros: Most dense, ideal for extremely tough samples
- Cons: Reacts with phenol and other acids and expensive.
Applications of tungsten balls
Tungsten carbide balls have a wide range of applications depending upon the requirement and purposes, such as
- It is applicable for precision bearings instruments.
- It is beneficial for tools.
- It is suitable for pen making.
- It is helpful if you used them in spraying machines.
- It is useful at water pumps.
- It is the appropriate element for the mechanical accessory.
- It is applicable for sealed valves.
- It is helpful to break pumps.
- It helps in punching holes.
- It is beneficial and valuable in oil fields.
- It is useful at hydrochloric acid laboratories.
- One of the main applications is as hardness testers.
- It is helpful in high-end industries for fishing gear, counterweights, decoration, finishing, etc.
The large size of tungsten balls has a broad scope in industries like bearing balls, but the small size is also beneficial for making a high-quality ball pen tip ball. One of the significant factors for Tungsten Carbide Bearing Balls is friction coefficient and accuracy.
Uses of a tungsten carbide ball
These balls have several uses because of their unique properties, characteristic, and combination as listed below:
- They necessary in YG6 hard alloy balls, YG6x hard alloy balls, YG8 hard alloy balls, YG13 hard alloy balls, YG20 hard alloy balls and YN6 hard alloy balls.
- The tungsten play an essential part in the YN12 cemented carbide ball composition, YT5 cemented carbide ball, and YT15 cemented carbide ball.
- As it has excellent hardness, strength, and durability, so it is very demanding in environmental applications.
- They’re often used as high-load bearings, linear bearings, slideways, and checking instruments.
- Global Precision Ball & Roller’s tungsten carbide products help manufacture heating and air conditioning equipment for durability and reliability.
- Balls of this material are preferred in the oil and gas sector. Moreover, helpful in different tooling and automotive industries since it can handle the tremendous heat and weight required.
- Global precision can supply tungsten carbide parts in volume, according to our customer’s volume requirements.