Tungsten & tungsten alloys
Materials with the finest properties
However high the hurdle, our refined tungsten materials are up to the challenge.
Tungsten & tungsten alloys
Tungsten – the heavy metal with head-turning properties
Tungsten is a metal of extremely high thermal resistance and density. It has:
- The highest melting point of all metals,
- The greatest mechanical strength,
- Exceptional rigidity and
- The lowest coefficient of thermal expansion.
Temperatures similar to those on the surface of the sun (approx. 5,900 °C) are required to boil tungsten. With a density of 19.28 g/cm³, tungsten is also among the heaviest metals which explains why it is for specific mass balancing among other things. Tungsten takes eighth place in the electrical conductivity ranking. This means it has about 31% of the electrical conductivity of copper.
Tungsten is also a special metal in terms of its chemistry. It is extraordinarily resistant to air exposure at room temperature. Only at high temperatures does it gradually burn, forming tungsten (VI) trioxide “(WO3)”. It is impervious to most acids and bases. Mineral acids, hydrofluoric acid and even nitrohydrochloric acid (aqua regia) only attack the metal slowly. It does however dissolve quickly in a mixture of nitric and hydrofluoric acid.
Tungsten – physical properties
Tungsten – chemical properties
Tungsten – physical and mechanical properties
Density: 18.0-19.25 g/cm³ (depending on the degree of deformation)
Strength: for a diameter of 1.0-1.99 mm > 1,500-2,200 MPa
for a diameter of 2.0-3.2 mm >1,300-2,000 MPa
Expansion: <6%
Recrystallisation properties:
- Start of recrystallisation: at around 1,150°C
- Full recrystallisation: at around 1,350°C within 1 hour
Specific electric resistance:
- 300 K 5.65 µΩcm
- 500 K 10.65 µΩcm
- 1000 K 24.93 µΩcm
- 1500 K 40.36 µΩcm
- 2000 K 56.67 µΩcm
- 2500 K 73.91 µΩcm
- 3000 K 92.04 µΩcm
- 3500 K 111.10 µΩcm
Thermal conductivity at 293°K / 174 W/m-K
Temperature coefficient: 273–373 K 4.5 · 10-6 K-1
Surface: ground, drawn (black/cleaned), hammered, turned, milled and eroded available
Heat treatment: May be annealed or unannealed
“Selecting the right material is often critical to the success of a project.”
