Uses of Carbide in Production

Christiananderson
2 min readOct 22, 2019

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Carbide is one of the chemical compounds whose uses are wide in industrialization. The manufacturing sector in particular is a big beneficiary of carbide. The importance of carbide covers most areas of human life related to manufacturing. Carbide is used for many applications due to its chemical composition. Strength of carbide stemming from its elements make it attractive for use in manufacturing.

The uses of carbide for industrial development are quite vast. Manufacture of acetylene is just but one of the uses. This is produced by reacting calcium carbide with water. Acetylene is an important component used in the production of polyvinyl chloride. The cost of polyvinyl chloride is lower in comparison to most oils necessitating its industrial use. Companies therefore opt for it to save on production costs.

One industry that benefits largely from carbide is the steel industry. The type of carbide tooling used in the steel industry is the carbide die. This die is largely used in steel production. Strength is the main drive of the use of carbide dies in steel work. Carbide is known to be several times harder than steel hence it can be used to make arguably the hardest metal on earth. To make steel using carbide you need to be guided by the purpose of the steel product being made.

There are three categories of carbide dues used in steel work. Cold forming dies fall into the first category. Use this die only for high speed work. Most parts of mechanically made equipment use steel from this types of dies. You can make most fasteners of cars and other automobiles using cold forming dies. Bolts, nuts and screws are the most common parts of automobiles made using this dies.

In the second category we have the carbide drawing die or extrusion die. The most common type of steel for this die is stainless steel. To achieve desired results, tungsten carbide is used since it can hold enormous pressure. This pressure also keeps the stainless nature of the steel intact. Products that can be made using carbide drawing die are mainly pipes and rods. Take a look at this link https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cemented_carbide_drawing_die for more information.

Finally, we have specialty dies. As the name suggests, specialty dies are used in the manufacture of special items using steel. Just like the other types, tungsten carbide is used in this process. Specialty dies come in many forms. Swaging dies, shaving dies and thread dies are the three sub-categories. These dies often remove any defects on the surface of steel hence enabling for creating of special equipment using the steel. One application is the making of threads in bolts and screws. Generally, the importance of carbide in manufacturing cannot be overemphasized. You are guaranteed strength and durability for your products if you use carbide.

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