- On the stage in the field of materials, there is a manufacturing process like an excellent artist, with its unique skills and exquisite techniques, to create a strong and durable material.
Cemented carbide is a high-performance material with the advantages of high hardness, high strength, and good wear resistance. It has been widely used in the industrial field. The manufacturing process of cemented carbide will be introduced in detail below.
On the stage of modern industry, cemented carbide has become a bright star with its excellent performance and wide application. The manufacturing process behind it is like a sophisticated and magical feast. From the selection of raw materials to the mixing and molding of powder and then to the tempering of high-temperature sintering, every link is full of the integration of science and technology. The manufacturing process of cemented carbide is not only a masterpiece of material science, but also the crystallization of the wisdom and sweat of engineers.
Mixed raw materials: Mix powdered tungsten oxide with carbon and put it into a special furnace to process it into tungsten carbide. Tungsten carbide is mixed with cobalt. The more cobalt, the better the toughness of the cemented carbide, and vice versa, the harder and more wear-resistant it is. The weight ratio of different ingredients needs to be carried out with the highest precision, and the error for a batch of 420 kilograms of raw materials cannot be greater than 20 grams.
Carbide blade production: from raw materials to boutique transformation
- Mixing is a precision metallurgical operation in which the mixture is ground into a fine and refined powder in a large ball mill. In order to obtain the correct flow properties, the mixture must be spray dried and after grinding, the powder has a particle size of Ø0.5-2.0um.
- Pressing with punches and dies in a highly automated CNC controlled stamping machine to obtain the basic shape and size. After pressing, the hardness of the blade is still far from the standard, and the robot transfers the pressed blade to a disc made of heat-resistant material.
- To harden, the blades are heat treated at 1500 degrees Celsius for 15 hours. Through a sintering process, the molten cobalt is bonded to the tungsten carbide particles. The sintering furnace process does two things: the blade shrinks significantly, which must be accurate to get the correct tolerances, and secondly, the powder mixture is transformed into a new material with metallic properties, becoming carbide.
Carbide blade production: the inheritance and innovation of exquisite technology
- The manufacturer has made the blade reach the expected hardness， but is not ready for delivery. Before proceeding to the next production step, the dimensions of the inserts are carefully checked in a coordinate measuring machine.
- Only through diamond grinding can the carbide blade have an accurate shape. The blade undergoes various grinding processes according to geometric angle requirements. Most grinders have built-in measurement controls that check and measure the blade in several stages.
- The cutting edge is treated to obtain the correct shape to achieve maximum wear resistance for the required machining. These blades can be brushed with a special brush with a silicon carbide coating, and regardless of the processing method used, the final result must be checked.
Coating
Chemical vapor deposition (CVD) and physical vapor deposition (PVD) are two existing coating methods. The method chosen depends on the material and processing method. Coating thickness depends on the blade application, and the coating determines the blade’s durability and blade life. If you use the CVD method for coating, you need to put the blade into a furnace and add chlorides and oxides in the form of gases together with methane and hydrogen. When the temperature reaches 1000 degrees Celsius, these gases interact and also act on the surface of the carbide, making the blade We obtain a homogeneous coating that is only a few thousandths of a millimeter thick. Some coated blades gain a golden surface, become more valuable, and are up to five times more durable than uncoated blades. PVD sprays the blade at 400 degrees Celsius.
Final inspection
marking and packaging: The blades pass automated inspection, then the material is laser-marked on the blades and finally packaged.Someone marks the blade box with product information , serial number and date, which is a guarantee that users receive excellent quality and service.
Warehouse
Once packaging is complete, the blades are ready to be shipped to customers. We have logistics centers in Europe, the United States and Asia to ensure that staff delivers the blades to customers quickly and in good condition.
The above is the main manufacturing process of cemented carbide blades. Different carbide products may be different, but in general, the manufacturing process of cemented carbide is relatively complex, and the process parameters of each link need to be strictly controlled to ensure that the product quality and performance.