If that is all you, have for information about it we would start with our Super C grade. It is a submicron grade with about 10% cobalt binder. It has the toughness of the traditional C2 and the wear properties of the traditional C4.
It depends on how the carbide is wearing. I have a list of 17 things that contribute to carbide wear we specify grades based on this.
See
High-pressure steam can be very abrasive particularly if it is carrying particulate matter with it. In that case, we would go to something like a Cermet 2, which is a very high wear material. It is essentially tungsten carbide with a post sintering, boron metalloid processing.
If you needed a tougher grade we would move into something such as the grades we use on stump grinders, sawmills etc. These are usually lumped together under the term nail cutting grades.
If corrosion is an issue, we can move into a grade with something like a nickel or nickel chrome binder for greater corrosion resistance than the traditional straight cobalt binders.
With the amount of money involved in downhole drilling and the economic penalties for failure, I believe I would specify very tight limits things such as grain size, porosity etc. I would also specify a HIPed material.
Note:
If you are going to use carbide as gaskets and braze it in place, the steel pretty well needs to be cut from pipe rather than machined from billet or plate. During the process of brazing, the assembly will probably reach 1500 F depending on a variety of factors. Typically, this is a long, slow vacuum process. During this process, there is a long cool down to provide an opportunity for stress relief arising from the difference in coefficients of expansion between the carbide and the steel. If the steel is still stressed from previous rolling, etc. that stress will also be relieved and the steel will move. Typically, the round hole will become a bit of an oblong by a couple thousandths of an inch.
Thomas J. Walz
Carbide Processors, Inc.
Good engineering starts with a Grainger Catalog.