We have seen Elkonite a lot. There are many topics around it, like machining Elkonite, Elkonite price, Elkonite bar stock, etc., Today we are going to show you the basic knowledge of Elkonite.
Elkonite is a trademark of CMW Inc. The term is used to refer to a group of metals. The group includes tungsten, molybdenum, tungsten copper, and tungsten carbide combined with copper.
These metals feature a high density, high hardness, high corrosion resistance, and high strength at high temperatures.
Tungsten:
Tungsten in tungsten ore is a chemical element. Its chemical symbol is W and its atomic number is 74.
Among all metals, tungsten has the highest melting point of 3410°C.
Tungsten has a high-temperature strength and creep resistance as well as thermal and electrical conductivity. It has a low coefficient of expansion and the lowest metal vapor pressure. But it is also very hard and difficult to machine. It is generally produced by powder metallurgy.
Theoretic Density: 19.35g/cm3; Thermal conductivity: 160W/m.K (300K); Mohs hardness: 7.5.
Tungsten has many forms, like tungsten wire, tungsten rod, tungsten sheet, tungsten plate, tungsten foil, tungsten cube, tungsten disk, and also tungsten fabricated parts.
Applications of Tungsten:
There are many places with tungsten usages:
Tungsten can be used as an added element in steel in steel making industry.
In x-ray inspection, Tungsten can be used as anode targets in x-ray tubes.
In high-temperature furnaces, tungsten can be used as heat shields, crucibles, and structural parts.
In the semiconductor industry, tungsten can be used in semiconductor ion implantation.
In elkonite, tungsten is used for resistance welding. We call it RWMA Class 13 or 100W. It is used for cross-wire welding of copper, brass, and other metals. It is also used for electro-blazing electrode materials and some electric upsetting operations.
Besides this, tungsten can be also used as part of the resistance welding electrodes. It could be used as an insert joined by a copper shank.
Molybdenum:
Molybdenum is a chemical element with the symbol Mo. Its atomic number is 42. In pure form, molybdenum is silvery-grey metal. It has a relatively high melting point of 2,623 °C. In all nature-born metals, only the other five metals tantalum, osmium, rhenium, tungsten, and carbon have a higher melting point. It has a low thermal expansion. Compared with tungsten, it has a lower hardness too, so machinability is much better.
Theoretic Density: 10.28 g/cm3; Thermal conductivity: 138 W/(m⋅K); Mohs hardness: 5.5.
Molybdenum has many forms, like molybdenum wire, molybdenum rod, molybdenum sheet, molybdenum plate, molybdenum foil, molybdenum cube, molybdenum disk, and also molybdenum fabricated parts.
Applications of Molybdenum:
Molybdenum can be used as an added element in steel in steel making industry.
In mammography, molybdenum can be used as anode targets in x-ray tubes.
Molybdenum can be used as heat shields, crucibles, and structural parts in high-temperature furnaces.
In semiconductors, molybdenum is common too. It can be used in semiconductor ion implantation and heat spreaders for high-power modules.
In elkonite, Moly is used for resistance welding. We call it RWMA Class 14 or 100M.
Molybdenum is used principally for electroblazing electrode material and cross-wire welding of nonferrous metals.
It is not as hard as Elkon 100W material and may be machined or drilled to fit the parts to be joined.
A typical application of this material, as an electrode, is the welding or brazing of braided or solid copper conductors to ferrous or nonferrous terminals, lugs, or fittings.
Tungsten Copper:
Tungsten copper is an alloy of tungsten and copper. It is produced by powder mixing, pressing, and sintering, and the following processes. With two metals mixed, tungsten copper has the advantage of tungsten and also the advantage of copper like good heat-resistant, ablation-resistant, highly thermally and electrically conductive, and easy to machine.
Tungsten copper (WCu) has many forms, like Tungsten copper rod, Tungsten copper bar, Tungsten copper sheet, Tungsten copper plate, Tungsten copper cube, Tungsten copper disk, and also Tungsten copper fabricated parts.
Applications of Tungsten Copper:
Tungsten copper can be used as switch contacts in SF6 circuit breakers.
It is used as electrodes in EDM applications and resistance welding and can be used as heat sinks, tabs, and heat spreaders in microelectronics.
In resistance welding, tungsten copper is suitable for inlay blocks, electrode heads, electrolytic electrodes, etc.
Elkonite® 1W3, and Elkonite® 3W3 are generally used for flash welding and butt-welding inlay blocks. These applications require high electrical conductivity and malleability of the metal. These materials can also be used for spot welding (as spherical electrodes) for low conductivity ferrous metals such as stainless steel.
Elkonite® 5W3 and Elkonite® TC5 are generally used for non-light convex welds, where the welding pressure is not high.
Elkonite® 10W3 is suitable for most flash welds, electrode inlays for butt welds, and welding jaws for convex welds. These welds are made with medium pressure. Also used for light electric upsets, electric forging dies, and seam weld liner inlays.
Elkonite® 30W3 and Elkonite® TC10 are recommended for mass production of convex welded impressions, where the welding pressure setting is relatively high. This material is commonly used as an impression face for non-ferrous metalworking and the electrical forging of mild steel, as well as for cross-welding large diameter wire and bar stock.
Elkonite® 3W53 and Elkonite® 10W53 are heat-treated grades of Elkonite® tungsten copper material. If silver is brazed to a mold backing, this type of Elkonite® material should be heat treated after brazing. These harder grades are primarily used for electric forging and electric upsetting dies at relatively high temperatures and pressures.
TC20 is very hard and resistant to corrosion (galvanic corrosion) TC20 is difficult to machine and can be considered top for carbon tools. Machining is not practical. Only grinding is possible. This material is used in a special application in electric upsetting and forging.
Elkonite® TC53 material is an extremely hard, heat treatable grade and therefore cannot be machined and the material must be ground. This Elkonite® material is typically used for special electric upsetting and forging applications.
