Applications of tungsten. Where is tungsten used?
Tungsten has one of the highest melting points among chemical elements and the highest among metals. Thanks to its properties, it is well suited for producing a wide variety of parts and mechanisms. After reading this article, you will learn about these properties and, most importantly, about the spheres and areas in which tungsten is used.
Physical and chemical properties of tungsten
Tungsten is a refractory gray metal. It is ductile and hard. Its hardness is significantly higher than that of lead. Tungsten alloys have high thermal conductivity, good corrosion resistance and high strength. Tungsten can react with various chemical elements, such as bromine, iodine, selenium, nitrogen and sulfur. The unique properties of this element make it possible to use tungsten and its alloys in many different industrial sectors.
Use of tungsten in industry
Tungsten began to be actively used in various industrial sectors relatively recently. For a long time it could not find practical application, but today more than half of all tungsten is used to produce tungsten alloys of various strengths. Let us list the spheres and areas of tungsten application in more detail:
- Electrical engineering. Tungsten is indispensable in this field because it is used to make filaments for electric lamps, cathodes for X-ray tubes and various parts for radio tubes.
- Chemical industry. In this field, tungsten is used as a raw material for making pigments, paints and lubricants. In addition, this metal is used as a catalyst.
- Military industry. Tungsten was one of the main raw materials in this field during the First World War. It is used to produce bullets, gun steel and armor-piercing shells.
- Automotive industry. Tungsten acts as an alloying element in some types of steel. It gives steel unique properties and makes it possible to use it for producing strong automotive springs. More information about this can be found in our article “Applications of steel”.
- Railway industry. Tungsten steel is used to produce railway rails and railcars. Such rails can withstand very heavy loads. In addition, their service life is much longer than that of rails made from other types of steel.
- Metallurgical industry. The most important purpose of tungsten in metallurgy is alloying steel with it, as well as producing hard alloys.
Use of tungsten alloys
Tungsten can form alloys with cobalt, iron, nickel and other metals. As mentioned above, tungsten can react with various chemical elements and thereby reduce the negative effect of some of them, such as sulfur and phosphorus, in alloys. As a result, tungsten alloys are obtained: hard, chemically resistant and elastic.
For example, tungsten alloys with boron and carbon are very close in hardness to diamonds, the hardest minerals.
Some alloys are suitable for producing parts that can be used at elevated temperatures. Tungsten-molybdenum alloys are used to produce jet aircraft nozzles and wire. The military industry actively uses heavy tungsten alloys to create tanks, grenades, weapons and shells. Tungsten has become an excellent replacement for lead in this field.
We have listed the main spheres and areas of tungsten application, and, as can be seen, this chemical element has remained in demand for many years in a wide variety of industries. The unique properties of tungsten suggest that in the future it may become even more popular and be used in entirely new fields.