Tungsten: A different but both hard working for making Alloy and Carbide

Tungsten: A different but both hard working for making Alloy and Carbide

It’s really a hard work of making tungsten carbide and alloy. And it is harder making tungsten carbide than tungsten alloy, according to my almost 2o years experiences of manufacturing tungsten and selling it worldwide.

The reason maybe 1) the different raw materials tungsten powder vs tungsten carbide powder
The different of the raw materials: the major raw materials of tungsten carbide sintered products is always tungsten carbide powder, which is made from carbonized tungsten powder, it always named tungsten carbide powder(TCP); but the tungsten alloy must bu make from(of) tungsten powder and the others of powder such as Nickel, Ferro, Molybdenum, Copper etc.

The another major different maybe the binder, in the most situation, tungsten carbide mixed powder( sometime we call this type powder which was ball milled and fix with binder was ready to press powder) , tungsten carbide always use cobalt as binder, sometime may use nikle; but the tungsten alloy products always use Ferro, Nickle and Copper as metal binder.

Of course, before the press, for the sake of getting a specific dimensions, the binder is most important for the processing. In most Chinese workshop, the binder always use rubber, candle, and alcohols.

As a result of different raw materials, tungsten carbide and alloy have a big different physical properties, tungsten carbide is the most hardest metals, and the tungsten alloy is the most dense metal as gold.

(To be continued)

Tungsten Alloy Pellets

I’m running a company which produce tungsten carbide and alloy products such as tungsten alloy cubes, tungsten alloy billet and barrels for professional dart, tungsten bucking bar and tungsten radiation shielding.

This afternoon , I come to our workshop for checking if is has produced one of our contract of tungsten heavy alloy tips for an English clients, we think it may be used for counterweight. The amount of this contract is 30000pcs, and now I found we had sintered 20000pcs and it was perfect.

Sometimes, I think is interesting for us to offering our products to our clients worldwide, and most of us enjoy this work thought it is really very hard work.

Anyway, after driving of100kms highway, I get a nice result.
It’s very nice.

Is tungsten a envirmental friendly metal?

Are tungsten carbide cobalt nanoparticles harmful to health?
Source: Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research - UFZ Published Apr. 14, 2009

Nanoparticles of tungsten carbide and tungsten carbide cobalt can enter cultured mammalian cells. These are the findings of a study conducted by researchers from the University of Dresden, the Leipzig-based Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research and the Fraunhofer Institute for Ceramic Technologies and Systems in Dresden. The results further show that pure tungsten carbide nanoparticles do not have cytotoxic effects. Only when the nanoparticles are mixed with a toxic substance, metallic cobalt in this case, are cytotoxic effects observed. The in vitro study, which was published in the renowned journal Environmental Health Perspectives, examined the effect of tungsten carbide and tungsten carbide cobalt nanoparticles with an aggregate size of 150 nanometres on cell lines of human lung, skin and intestinal cells and of primary cultures of rat brain cells.
Tungsten carbide is used primarily in the heavy metal industry for the manufacture of tools. The addition of cobalt increases its toughness and strength. During the manufacture process workers may be exposured. But until now, no scientific findings on the effects of nano-sized particles of the material have been available. Before nano-grained materials are used on a large scale, the risks to humans and the environment need to be investigated and taken into account.
The chemical and physical studies confirmed that both tungsten carbide and tungsten carbide cobalt particles are stabilised by albumin or serum in nutrient solutions. Adding albumin to the nutrient solutions makes it possible to carry out research in conditions that are very close to those found in exposed organisms. Using electron microscope methods it was possible to detect uptake of the particles by the cells under investigation. Subsequent biological tests showed that tungsten carbide nanoparticles alone are not acutely toxic, whereas combinations of these particles with cobalt did have toxic effects at high particle concentrations. The toxicity of the WC-Co mixture was higher than that of similar concentrations of cobalt ions. It is not yet entirely clear why the combination of tungsten carbide and cobalt is more toxic. It is possible that nanoparticles act as a Trojan horse, i.e. they increase the cell’s uptake of toxic cobalt ions. Further research is needed to clarify the effect of particle size and combination effects in order to draw conclusions about possible consequences for health risk assessments.
These and other findings were discussed on 18 and 19 March 2009 at a symposium at the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research in Leipzig on 'Nanotechnology and Toxicity in the Environment and Health´ by around 80 scientists and representatives of government bodies and industry. The symposium also marked the end of the INOS research project. The German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) has provided funding for three large consortia (NanoCare, INOS and TRACER) totalling EUR 7.6 million. These are the first projects in Germany to have investigated health aspects of synthetic nanoparticles on a large scale. INOS focused on developing methods for assessing the risk potential of engineered nanoparticles with the help of in vitro methods. The research concentrated on ceramic and metallic particles such as diamond, tungsten carbide, titanium dioxide, titanium nitride, cobalt, platinum, ceramic metal compounds, carbon nanotubes and carbon black.
Tilo Arnhold

'No Blood for Gadgets'

New Campaign Says 'No Blood for Gadgets'
By Matthew Wheeland, April 14, 2009

This may fall a little far afield from our usual coverage of green IT and environmental business practices, but bear with me: a) this is an interesting and important story, and b) it dovetails with many of the same supply-chain, procurement, and responsible sourcing topics that companies are facing with environmental issues.In a nutshell, the ongoing war in the Democratic Republic of Congo has killed 5.4 million people since it flared up again in 1998, making it the deadliest documented conflict since World War II. As a method of controlling opposition regions and punishing those who don't obey, rape and sexual violence has become unfathomably widespread in the Congo war. A new prong in an effort by the Enough Project involves striking at one of the key arenas that the armies are fighting for, and a source of funding for those armies: the raw materials for the global electronics industry.From a new report on the campaign:

Sexual violence in Congo is often fueled by militias and armies warring over “conflict minerals,” the ores that produce tin, tungsten, and tantalum -- the “3 Ts” -- as well as gold. Armed groups from Congo, Rwanda, and Uganda finance themselves through the illicit conflict mineral trade and fight over control of mines and taxation points inside Congo.[...]• Tin (produced from cassiterite) -- used inside your cell phone and all electronic products as a solder on circuit boards. The biggest use of tin worldwide is in electronic products. Congolese armed groups earn approximately $85 million per year from trade in tin.• Tantalum (produced from “coltan”) -- used to store electricity in capacitors in iPods, digital cameras, and cell phones. Sixty-five to 80 percent of the world’s tantalum is used in electronic products. Congolese armed groups earn an estimated $8 million per year from trading in tantalum.
• Tungsten (produced from wolframite) -- used to make your cell phone or Blackberry vibrate. Tungsten is a growing source of income for armed groups in Congo, with armed groups currently earning approximately $2 million annually.

• Gold -- used in jewelry and as a component in electronics. Extremely valuable and easy to smuggle, Congolese armed groups are earning between $44 million to $88 million per year from gold.In addition to calling for leadership from the White House and Congress, the Enough Project's new campaign aims to pressure electronics manufacturers to verify that none of these raw materials come from Congo, both by enlisting companies to sign a "conflict minerals pledge" as well as urging individuals to pressure companies to sign the pledge.The Enough Project is funded by the Center for American Progress, a progressive advocacy group and think tank based in Washington. The group is using the electronics campaign as one prong to take on not just this ongoing war, but genocide underway in multiple conflicts around the world.The group has already sent letters to 21 top electronics companies that are using conflict minerals in their products, and based on the responses, the group will launch campaigns to encourage these companies to take these materials out of their supply chains and allow independent verification of their procurement strategies.

None of the big electronics companies want to fuel the deadliest war in the world. But at a time of financial crisis, when every penny of profit counts, corporation may continue to turn a blind eye toward Congo’s conflict mineral trade. Therefore, we need to use our considerable market muscle to demand evidence from companies such as Apple, Nokia, Hewlett Packard, and Nintendo that their products do not contain conflict minerals. This will require them to change their procurement practices and demand that their suppliers provide proof of where their minerals are sourced from.The electronics companies are powerful actors in their supply chains. If they show leadership, they can fundamentally change the way these minerals are bought and sold, ensuring that the minerals don’t contribute to armed conflict and the continuation of the worst violence against women and girls in the world. As consumers, we can compel them to exercise that leadership. These types of supply chain accountability issues are increasingly relevant to companies for any number of reasons, whether it's ensuring fair labor practices, tracking food supply chains for food-safety, getting a clear picture of a company's overall carbon footprint, or evaluating their risks from climate change. With complex, global supply chains increasingly common, these types of calls for transparency and strict supply-chain management are only likely to increase.

Why tungsten is the most hardness metal? (1 of 3 H)

Why tungsten is the most hardness metal? (1 of 3 H)
1 of 3 H

Tungsten is the most hard metal from nature which we may find in the earth.

Actually, the nature tungsten, also named wolfram is not the most hardness unless it is processing by the modern industry. But we it is taken from the wolfram mines as ore, and milling, smelting into powder, and press in the specific mould with binder ex. 1) cobalt, nickel, copper, ferro, Molybdenum and some rare earth metal and 2) some physical binder as Rubber, candle or alcohol, and later let the pressed blank to be sintered via high temperature furnace. We may get the sintered blank of tungsten carbide, as tips, inserts, buttons, and they can be used for mining, drilling and cutting for many application as mining, drilling and oil etc.

If we would like to get a specific dimensions with a critics tolerances, we should have some processing machining, maybe cutting, centeless milling and other machining with CNC.

Of course, the raw materials of tungsten carbide are tungsten carbide powder and the metal binders but not pure tungsten powder. The binder is most important for hardness of tungsten carbide , and the carbon is also important for the property of hardness, for everyone knows, the most hardness materials in the nature is not tungsten but diamond which contents of carbon, so one on the reason of why tungsten carbide is the most hardness metal is carbon.

Tungsten carbide also named cemented carbide, the reason maybe it is another one of cemented materials.
(to be continued)

I'm a Tungsten Man

Now, I have a new home at google. let's google home now.

I'm hanns come from China, I'm a wolfram man for I have been working for everything about tungsten(wolram) in the past 2 decades.

I hope may share my ideas and experiences here to anyone else interesting in Tungsten, carbide and/or alloy.