What is Tungsten Alloy

Tungsten alloy is consisting of W and some additives usually Fe,cu or other elements. Tungsten alloy famous for their high density ranging from 16.5 to 18.5 owing to the normal content of W in tungsten alloy is from 90 to 95 percent.Tungsten alloy generally is refractory metal and have two-phase composites such as the combination of W-Ni- Fe or W-Ni- Cu or even W-Ni-Cu-Fe, the W-Ni-Fe system has the best satisfactory in the current uses of tungsten heavy alloys. some tungsten alloys are added Co Mo, Cr, etc, the addition of cobalt to a W-Ni-Fe alloy is a common approach for slight enhancement of both strength and ductility. Nickel and iron is the most popular additive usually serving as a binder matrix, which holds the brittle tungsten grains together, improves the ductility and machine ability of the tungsten alloys.

The conventional processing method of the tungsten alloy is follows. Firstly, mix the desired amount of elemental powders. Secondly, with cold pressing and liquid phase sintering to almost full density. Then, the matrix alloy melts and takes some tungsten into solution during liquid phase processing, resulting in a microstructure through which large tungsten grains are dispersed in the matrix alloy. The as-sintered material often is through the thermo mechanical processing by swaging and aging, which have a great effect in increasing the tungsten heavy alloys' strength and hardness.