Tungsten

:This article is about the chemical element. "Tungsten" may also refer to the Tungsten Handheld PDA or to the Tungsten pickups.

Applications

Tungsten is a metal with a wide range of uses, the largest of which is as tungsten carbide (W2C, WC) in cemented carbides. Cemented carbides (also called hardmetals) are wear-resistant materials used by the metalworking, mining, petroleum and construction industries. Tungsten is widely used in light bulb and vacuum tube filaments, as well as electrodes, because it can be drawn into very thin metal wires that have a high melting point. Other uses;

Related Topics:
Tungsten carbide - C - Carbide - Mining - Petroleum - Light bulb - Vacuum tube - Electrode

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

• A high melting point also makes tungsten suitable for space-oriented and high temperature uses which include electrical, heating, and welding applications, notably in the GTAW process (also called TIG welding).
• Hardness and density properties make this metal ideal for making heavy metal alloys that are used in armaments, heat sinks, and high-density applications, such as weights and counterweights.
• The high density makes it an ideal ingredient for darts, sometimes up to 80%.
• High-speed tool steels (Hastelloy, Stellite) are often alloyed with tungsten, with tungsten steels containing as much as 18% tungsten.
• Superalloys containing this metal are used in turbine blades, tool steels, and wear-resistant alloy parts and coatings.
• Composites are used as a substitute for lead in bullets and shot.
• Tungsten chemical compounds are used in catalysts, inorganic pigments, and tungsten disulfide high-temperature lubricants which is stable to 500 °C (930 °F).
• Since this element's thermal expansion is similar to borosilicate glass, it is used for making glass-to-metal seals.
• It is used in kinetic energy penetrators, usually alloyed with nickel and iron or cobalt to form tungsten heavy alloys, as an alternative to depleted uranium.

Miscellaneous: Oxides are used in ceramic glazes and calcium/magnesium tungstates are used widely in fluorescent lighting. Crystal tungstates are used as scintillation detectors in nuclear physics and nuclear medicine. The metal is also used in X-ray targets and heating elements for electrical furnaces. Salts that contain tungsten are used in the chemical and tanning industries. Tungsten 'bronzes' (so-called due to the colour of the tungsten oxides) along with other compounds are used in paints. Tungsten Carbide has recently been used in the fashioning of jewelry due to its hypoallergenic nature and the fact that due to its extreme hardness it is not apt to lose its luster like other polished metals.

Related Topics:
Ceramic - Calcium - Magnesium - Scintillation detectors - Nuclear physics - Nuclear medicine - X-ray - Tanning - Paint - Hypoallergenic

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~