Tungsten Suppliers

Tungsten Suppliers

Tungsten and tungsten alloys are very electrically and thermally conductive, making them useful in electrical applications. Tungsten is a metal that is available in four different forms-tungsten carbide, which is half carbon and twice as hard as any steel, alloyed tungsten, which is mixed with many different metals including copper and iron, pure tungsten, which is extremely electrically conductive and mostly used in electrical applications and tungsten-based chemicals, which are rare but are used to make organic dyes, pigment phosphors and x-ray screens. Pure tungsten is fabricated into strip form to make an integral component of everyday light bulbs. It can be used as a coating to extend the lifespan of tools and machinery parts, and is common in industrial machinery, mining and construction applications. Tungsten is also a hypoallergenic alternative to gold and silver jewelry. It can be polished to have a very dark, shiny surface that will not scratch. Tungsten is often alloyed with 2% thorium oxide and molded or sintered into rods to make tungsten electrodes. These rods are used mostly in arc welding as a conductive medium to transfer high volts of electricity to two pieces of separate metal. The high heat generated from the electricity causes the metal parts to melt together, thus forming a weld.

Some of the most common tungsten products manufactured by suppliers are alloyed with cobalt, which acts as a binder to form what is known as cemented carbides. This type of tungsten is used in cutting applications. The cobalt counteracts tungsten's tendency to become brittle under higher pressures, allowing it to be used in structural applications. Some alloys contain very little amounts of another substance. These are called tungsten heavy-metal alloys, and are at lease 90% tungsten. Most tungsten and tungsten alloys are first fabricated into billets in the form of solid blocks by sintering or molding. Then, they are fabricated into bar, sheet, plate, rod or wire form though drawing, grounding, molding and die cutting, among others. Some products require further processing, and are solid in three different conditions-black, which still has a coating of lubricant and oxide, cleaned, where the coating has been removed with chemicals, or ground. Ground tungsten has been machined with diamond or silicon carbide tools to remove the coating and achieve a certain smoothness and diameter.