Tungsten & Tungsten Carbide Alternatives
Tungsten & Tungsten Carbide Alternatives
(OP)
Can anybody suggest alternative metals/alloys with properties in terms of hardness, impact resistance, stiffness, abrasion resistance, etc. in the range of tungsten and tungsten carbide?
I'm specifically looking for a metal or alloy here, not a ceramic or composite. Cost is not a major issue. Lower density would be nice.
Molybdenum runs a bit soft for my tastes.
I'm specifically looking for a metal or alloy here, not a ceramic or composite. Cost is not a major issue. Lower density would be nice.
Molybdenum runs a bit soft for my tastes.





RE: Tungsten & Tungsten Carbide Alternatives
RE: Tungsten & Tungsten Carbide Alternatives
Deloro Stellite is one source.
RE: Tungsten & Tungsten Carbide Alternatives
I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work." — Thomas Edison
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RE: Tungsten & Tungsten Carbide Alternatives
I want a solid metal/alloy here, NOT a composite, cemented carbide, coating, plating, or other. I know people will want to mention these options, and they are interesting, but not what I'm asking.
I like the hardness of tungsten and of tungsten carbide even more. The goal is extreme abrasion resistance. I like the impact handling of W, although most metals are acceptable here, save for really brittle things like pure chromium. The stiffness in W is also great.
My biggest complaint about W/WC is the density. I dislike the high melting point of W/WC, although this can be worked around. I would also love a lower cost, but so would everybody! I'm prepared to pay plenty more for an improvement over W if it can be had.
I looked 98M2 Stellite and it certainly looks like it might have compelling properties. A quick compositional review suggests that it's got a little of many metals I was thinking about... boron, carbon, tungsten, vanadium, molybdenum, manganese, chromium.
Any ideas on the potential for hot isostatic pressing of 98M2 Stellite powder?
Other notes on other alloys?
RE: Tungsten & Tungsten Carbide Alternatives
Louw De Jong
Stoody Deloro Stellite
604 463-2140
ldejong@stellite.com
Not sure if it fits but cermets have a much lower density than tungsten carbide.
Have you tried some of the new nano-materials and similar?
Tom
Thomas J. Walz
Carbide Processors, Inc.
www.carbideprocessors.com
Good engineering starts with a Grainger Catalog.
RE: Tungsten & Tungsten Carbide Alternatives
Regards,
Cory
Please see FAQ731-376: Eng-Tips.com Forum Policies for tips on how to make the best use of Eng-Tips Fora.
RE: Tungsten & Tungsten Carbide Alternatives
Perhaps Cory too might have some such chemistry on his mind.
I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work." — Thomas Edison
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RE: Tungsten & Tungsten Carbide Alternatives
One of the applications for this material is hot isostatic pressing. I may even be interested in producing a metal-ceramic matrix or cermet, should the metal alone be unsuitable. However, this arena gets very complex very quickly, so I am trying to just focus on the metal aspect of things.
Ideally, I would like a solid metal which I can use at very low thicknesses without becoming too brittle. I would rather have a dense-but-thin material than a light-but-thick material, hence my focusing on the metal aspect of things. However, the stiffness and impact resistance are the primary limitations in making a thin material, and will only be worked out through real-world testing.
I also could have my guys with the electric arc furnace whip up any range of alloys for me on a custom basis, although it would be nice to work with something off the shelf to get started.
I would love to hear about any alloys not from Deloro Stellite if anybody would care to share. I am also curious about nanomaterials.
RE: Tungsten & Tungsten Carbide Alternatives
Regards,
Cory
Please see FAQ731-376: Eng-Tips.com Forum Policies for tips on how to make the best use of Eng-Tips Fora.
RE: Tungsten & Tungsten Carbide Alternatives
Brittleness is hopelessly subjective, but despite my best efforts, I find my needs are not precisely quantified by any regularly measured value.
RE: Tungsten & Tungsten Carbide Alternatives
if you can let us know more about the application that you have on mind,perhaps you could evince better response. As I see the whole range of wear resist materials have been presented. Maybe it does not meet your requirements.
I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work." — Thomas Edison
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RE: Tungsten & Tungsten Carbide Alternatives
RE: Tungsten & Tungsten Carbide Alternatives
My application for this material would involve hot isostatic pressing and a few other processes.
Here is a working list of alloys:
Deloro Stellite Stellite 98M2 - 2327° F liquidus, 8.63 g/cm^3, 58 Rockwell C hardness.
Deloro Stellite Deloro 50 - 1945° F liquidus, 8.14 g/cm^3, up to 58 Rockwell C hardness
Deloro Stellite Delcrome 93 - 2219° F, 7.77 g/cm^3, 58-65 hardness
Deloro Stellite Nucalloy 453 - 2260° F, 8.10 g/cm^3, 43 hardness
Deloro Stellite Nucalloy 488 - 2260° F, 8.10 g/cm^3, 45 hardness
Deloro Stellite Nucalloy 488V - 2230° F, 8.10 g/cm^3, 45 hardness
The Deloro 50 is interesting, as it has a low melting point, yet excellent hardness.
RE: Tungsten & Tungsten Carbide Alternatives
Do they have any serious competitors I should be checking out?
RE: Tungsten & Tungsten Carbide Alternatives
Alojz Kajinic, Ph.D.
RE: Tungsten & Tungsten Carbide Alternatives
One of my concerns about a steel is corrosion. While I'm not expecting any acids or anything, moisture is a possibility, perhaps even extremely brief salt water splash exposure. This would not be persistent, but I would hate to have a carbon steel rusting on me here.
I will look into them further and see what I can find. Meanwhile, Deloro Stellite also has several very promising options, and I am arranging to test a small range of them from very hard to less-hard-but-more-tough.
RE: Tungsten & Tungsten Carbide Alternatives
I also wanted to add that I am are obviously very interested in cost, but the size, volume, value, etc. here does mean that limiting cost is not the primary objective.
RE: Tungsten & Tungsten Carbide Alternatives
The reason cemented carbides are still widely used is because they have better wear resistance and higher stiffness. calphad said that the super HSS are superior in machinability and toughness, not the other two parameters.
RE: Tungsten & Tungsten Carbide Alternatives
RE: Tungsten & Tungsten Carbide Alternatives
Alojz Kajinic, Ph.D.
RE: Tungsten & Tungsten Carbide Alternatives
http://www.stulzsicklessteel.com/home/products.cfm
RE: Tungsten & Tungsten Carbide Alternatives
I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work." — Thomas Edison
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RE: Tungsten & Tungsten Carbide Alternatives
RE: Tungsten & Tungsten Carbide Alternatives
There are others that embed TC into weld metal on a very small scale.
RE: Tungsten & Tungsten Carbide Alternatives
Combining the postings by TVP and calphad and if the component is amenable one might like to look at the Ferro-Tic line of TiC materials.
http://www.ferro-tic.com/grade.html
There are other possibilities available if a little more information was available.