What is Tungsten Copper Alloy

What is tungsten copper alloy?

Tungsten copper alloy (tungsten-copper, Cu-W, or W-Cu) is a pseudo-alloy of copper and tungsten. As copper and tungsten are not mutually soluble, the material is composed of distinct particles of one metal dispersed in a matrix of the other one. The microstructure is therefore rather a metal matrix composite than a true alloy. The alloy combines the properties of both metals, resulting in a material that is heat-resistant, ablation-resistant, highly thermally and electrically conductive, and easy to machine.

Copper tungsten alloy integrates the advantages of tungsten and copper, within which tungsten’s melting point is higher( about 3410 ℃) and density is larger (about 19.34g/cm3). Copper has good electro conductivity, so tungsten copper alloy (ingredients range from Wcu7-Wcu50) whose micro-structure is even and it is high temperature resistance, high intensity, and large intensity. As tungsten copper has appropriate electro conductivity and heat-conductivity, so it is widely used in high temperature-resistance material, electrician alloy used in high voltage switch, electronic processing electrode, and micro-electronic material. As pieces, tungsten copper is widely used in spaceflight, aviation, electron, electronic power, metallurgy, mechanism etc.

“CuW” and “WCu” redirect here. For other uses, see CuW (disambiguation) and WCu (disambiguation). Copper tungsten alloy (tungsten-copper, CuW, or WCu) is a pseudo-alloy of copper and tungsten. As copper and tungsten are not mutually soluble, the material is composed of distinct particles of one metal dispersed in a matrix of the other one. The microstructure is therefore rather a metal matrix composite instead of a true alloy.

The material combines the properties of both metals, resulting in a material that is heat-resistant, ablation-resistant, highly thermally and electrically conductive, and easy to machine.
Parts are made from the copper tungsten alloy by pressing the tungsten particles into a desired shape, sintering the compacted part, then infiltrating with molten copper. Sheets, rods and bars of the alloy are available as well.
Commonly used copper tungsten alloy contains 10 to 50 wt. % of copper, the remaining portion being mostly tungsten. The typical properties of the alloy depend on its composition. The alloy with less wt. % of copper has higher density, higher hardness and higher resistivity. The typical density of CuW90 alloy, with 10% of copper, is 16.75g/cm3 and 11.85g/cm3 for CuW50 alloy. CuW90 has higher hardness and resistivity of 260 HB kgf/mm2 and 6.5 ?Ω.cm than CuW50.

For different application should choice the different grade copper tungsten alloy composition. The key factor is evaluating the hardness, electrical conductivity. Thread tapping is better use the Cu-W (72% by weight) tungsten composition. For some EDM electrode since it need to be machining after periods of using. The W-70% to 75% compositions is recommended.