Tungsten Carbide Rods

Tungsten carbide alloy rods, with their excellent properties such as high hardness, wear resistance, heat resistance, and strong corrosion resistance, have wide applications in multiple industrial fields and special scenarios.

Products Provided by Kedel

Tungsten carbide alloy rods are rod-shaped wear-resistant materials made from tungsten carbide powder and binder metals like cobalt through powder metallurgy. They combine high hardness, wear resistance, and high-temperature resistance.

Solid Tungsten Carbide Rod

Single-Hole Tungsten Carbide Rod

Spiral/Straight Double-Hole Tungsten Carbide Rod

Application Scenarios of rods

Tungsten carbide alloy rods, with their high hardness, wear resistance, and high-temperature resistance, are widely used in industries with strict material performance requirements such as mechanical processing, mining drilling, electronics & semiconductors, petroleum, aerospace, and chemical engineering.

metal processing industry

Mining and Geological Exploration Equipment

Manufacturing of Wear - Resistant Components

Mold Manufacturing

Medical and High - end Equipment

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Want to customize a suitable tungsten carbide alloy rod? Please provide the equipment adaptation information, the performance standards for the rod (such as hardness, precision, etc.), and the actual operating environment (temperature, corrosion and other working conditions). The engineer will customize the solution and communicate with you within 72 hours.

What is a tungsten carbide alloy rod?

Tungsten carbide alloy rods exhibit remarkable performance, playing an indispensable role across multiple industries. In metal cutting, they serve as high – strength, wear – resistant tool bits for lathes and milling machines, enabling precise and efficient material removal. In mining and geological exploration, their toughness and abrasion resistance make them ideal for manufacturing drill rods and mining tools, ensuring stable rock – breaking and sampling operations. In the field of mechanical engineering, they are used to produce high – precision wear – resistant parts like shafts and pins in heavy – duty equipment.

Manufacturing mainly adopts the powder metallurgy process. Tungsten carbide powder is first mixed with a proper binder in accurate proportions, then compacted into preforms, and sintered at elevated temperatures to firmly bond the particles. Subsequently, precision machining processes such as grinding and turning are carried out to guarantee dimensional accuracy and surface finish.

With superior performance, tungsten carbide alloy rods are extensively applied in crucial equipment. This includes cutting tools in the machining industry, drill rods in mining and petroleum exploration, high – wear – resistant components in hydraulic machinery, as well as core parts in precision instruments, all depending on them to maintain efficient and stable operation.

Types of tungsten carbide rods

Different types of carbide rods have their own features and are designed for specific applications. The following are some commonly used tungsten carbide rod types.

Solid carbide rods

Structural Feature: Homogeneous integral structure, without additional hole – type designs. The whole rod body is made of carbide material, ensuring uniform material properties.
Functional Advantage: Offers high overall hardness, excellent wear resistance and structural integrity. Can maintain stable performance under general cutting, stamping and other force – bearing conditions.
Typical Applications: General – purpose machining scenarios such as common cutting tools (e.g., lathe turning tools for simple metal cutting), mold cores for low – complexity molds, and wear – resistant parts with basic shape requirements.

Carbide rods with straight coolant holes

Structural Feature: On the basis of the solid carbide rod, there are straight – through cylindrical coolant holes. The holes are parallel to the axis of the rod, and the inner channel has no sudden contraction or expansion.
Functional Advantage: When coolant passes through, it can form a relatively stable flow state, effectively reducing pressure loss. It helps in timely heat dissipation during machining, reducing tool wear and improving workpiece machining accuracy.
Typical Applications: Machining operations that require certain cooling effects, like drilling tools in medium – speed drilling processes (assisting in cooling the drill bit), and cutting tools for continuous cutting of ordinary metal materials (such as cutting steel bars on general lathes).

Carbide rods with spiral coolant holes

Structural Feature: There are spiral – shaped coolant holes inside the rod. The holes spiral along the axis of the rod, changing the flow path of the coolant.
Functional Advantage: The spiral design makes the coolant generate a swirling flow during circulation, which can enhance the heat exchange efficiency, and better take away the heat generated during machining. At the same time, the swirling coolant can also play a role in chip removal to a certain extent, reducing the accumulation of chips.
Typical Applications: High – speed and high – load machining fields, such as high – speed milling cutters for precision machining (meeting the high cooling and chip removal requirements of high – speed cutting), and drilling tools for deep – hole drilling (effectively cooling and removing chips in the deep – hole environment).

What Products Are Commonly Used For?

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Metal Machining – Milling Cutters

Milling Cutters: Utilized for milling operations to shape metal workpieces. Rotating cutters remove material from the workpiece surface, enabling processes like face milling, end milling, and slot milling.
- Feature: High hardness and wear resistance of tungsten carbide ensure prolonged tool life. Precision – ground cutting edges maintain sharpness for accurate, smooth cuts on various metals (e.g., steel, aluminum).
- Typical Applications: Machining complex contours in automotive parts (engine blocks), creating slots in aerospace components, and finishing molds/dies.

Mining Equipment – Mining Picks

Mining Picks: Mounted on mining machines (shearers, roadheaders) to break and extract coal/rock. The pick head bears direct impact and abrasion during excavation.
- Feature: Tungsten carbide tip withstands extreme impact from rock fragmentation and abrasive wear from mineral particles. Tough cobalt – based binder in the alloy prevents tip chipping.
- Typical Applications: Coal mining (shearing coal seams), tunneling (excavating hard rock), and quarrying (breaking stone deposits).

Wear – Resistant Parts – Bushings

Bushings: Act as wear – resistant sleeves in machinery to reduce friction between rotating/shifting components (e.g., shafts and housings).
- Feature: Tungsten carbide bushings offer exceptional hardness (resisting abrasive wear) and low friction. Their dense structure prevents deformation under high loads.
- Typical Applications: Heavy – duty equipment like excavators (arm pivot bushings), hydraulic cylinders (piston rod bushings), and industrial presses (guide bushings).

Mold Manufacturing – Screw Molds

Screw Molds: Used in injection molding/extrusion to shape molten plastic into screw – like products (e.g., fasteners, thread inserts). The mold cavity defines the thread profile and dimensions.
- Feature: Tungsten carbide’s high hardness and polishability ensure precise, smooth thread surfaces. Resistance to thermal fatigue prevents mold degradation during repeated heating/cooling cycles.
- Typical Applications: Producing plastic screws for electronics (phone cases), medical devices (syringe components), and automotive interiors (fastening clips).

What parameters need to be understood?

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I. Material Composition Parameters

Tungsten Carbide (WC) Content
Directly affects hardness and wear resistance: Higher WC content (e.g., 90% to 97%) leads to higher hardness (up to HRA 89–93), but reduces toughness. For example, alloy rods for cutting tools often use high WC content to resist wear.
Selection should align with working conditions: Impact scenarios like mining drilling require balanced toughness, so alloys with lower WC content (e.g., 85%–90%) and higher cobalt (Co) content are preferred.
Binder Phase (Cobalt/Nickel, etc.) Content
Cobalt (Co) is a common binder, typically at 3%–15%: Higher Co content enhances alloy toughness, suitable for impact-resistant applications (e.g., geological drilling); lower Co content suits high-hardness cutting scenarios.

II. Geometric and Dimensional Parameters

Diameter and Length
Diameter range: Commonly 0.5mm–50mm, matching equipment interfaces (e.g., lathe tool holders, drill fixtures); length is customized for use (e.g., cutting tools are usually 50mm–300mm, drilling rods can reach several meters).
Tolerance requirements: Rods for precision machining require controlled diameter tolerance (e.g., ±0.01mm) and surface roughness (Ra≤0.8μm).
Cross-Section Shape
Circular rods are most common, but special shapes like square or hexagonal are available, selected based on tool structures (e.g., milling cutter shanks, mold punches).

III. Physical Property Parameters

Hardness
Expressed by Rockwell hardness (HRA) or Vickers hardness (HV): HRA 90+ is suitable for metal cutting, while HRA 85–88 suits wear-resistant parts.
Note: Hardness correlates with wear resistance, but excessive hardness may increase brittleness.
Flexural Strength
Measures fracture resistance, in MPa (e.g., 2000–3500MPa): High-strength alloys (e.g., >3000MPa) are needed for drilling, stamping, and other heavy-load conditions.
Density
Tungsten carbide alloy density is ~14–15.6g/cm³, affecting tool inertia and equipment load (e.g., high-speed rotating tools require dynamic balance consideration).
Thermal Conductivity and Coefficient of Thermal Expansion
High thermal conductivity (~100–130W/(m・K)) aids heat dissipation during cutting; the thermal expansion coefficient (4–6×10⁻⁶/℃) must match the workpiece material to avoid thermal stress cracking.

IV. Microstructure and Manufacturing Process Parameters

Grain Size
Ultrafine grain (<1μm) alloys offer higher hardness and wear resistance for precision machining; coarse grain (>2μm) alloys have better toughness for heavy-load conditions.
Sintered Density
Ideal density should be ≥99%; low density reduces strength, confirmed by metallographic inspection of porosity.
Surface Treatment
Some rods require coatings (e.g., TiN, TiC) for enhanced wear resistance, or polishing/plating—specify surface requirements clearly.

V. Application Adaptation Parameters

Working Conditions
- Cutting speed and feed rate: High-speed cutting (e.g., >100m/min for steel machining) needs high-hardness alloys; low-speed heavy loads (e.g., mining crushing) need high-toughness alloys.
- Contact media: Corrosive environments (e.g., oil drilling) require corrosion-resistant binders (e.g., nickel-based alloys).
Industry Standards and Certifications
Refer to ISO, ASTM, or GB standards (e.g., GB/T 2075-2007), and confirm the supplier provides performance test reports (hardness, flexural strength data).