A major change has been implemented within the current version of Brinell Hardness Standard E 10. This single ballot item has eliminated the use of STEEL BALL INDENTERS for ALL Brinell testing. TUNGSTEN CARBIDE INDENTERS are now MANDATORY to remain in compliance with ASTM specifications. Our Balls are in compliance with section 5.4 for dimensional and composition requirements. Committee E28 of ASTM has approved this change, on Mechanical testing. ASTM now aligns with ISO 6506 with regard to indenter usage

(A task group of ASTM Subcommittee E28.06 on Indentation Hardness Testing developed the revision, headed by Mr. Robert A Ellis, Quality Manager, David L. Ellis Co, Inc, Acton, Mass)

A new method of determining hardness at high temperatures has been developed and is being used, particularly, to study materials having melting points in the region of 3000 deg C. The principle of the hardness measurement is the determination of the height of rebound of a spherical indenter. Tungsten carbide Ball of diameter 1/8" is dropped on to the specimen from the height of about 22". The method of the measurement makes use of a Photo multiplier and an electronic timing device. A graphite-tube resistance-heated furnace is used to obtain the temperatures required.

(Measurement of hardness at very high temperatures by Mr. L.M. Fitzgerald, Laboratory Incharge for the Physics & Chemistry of Solids, Cavendish Laboratory, Cambridge, as written in the British Journal of Applied Physics)

Rockwell refers to the Hardness testing technique developed by Stanley Rockwell in 1921. It is the registered trademark of Wilson Instruments, a division of Instron Corp. In place of Diamond Indenters, tungsten Carbide Ball Indenters should be used for Rockwell Indenters. The indent depends on the indenter's roundness and Tungsten Carbide never loose its roundness.

(As suggested by Dirk Dusharme, Technology Editor - Quality Digest and shared by Mr. Tom Farrell, test equipment product Manager, Mitutoyo and Mr. Richard Ellis, President, David A Elliss Inc , Manufacturers of Test Blocks.)

E18-03e1 Standard Test Methods for Rockwell Hardness and Rockwell Superficial hardness of Metallic Materials developed by Sub-Committee E28.06 has made the use of Tungsten carbide Balls MANDATORY . Steel Balls have a tendency to flatten or deform while in use. This has always been a problem with HRB and HRxxT scales, and the general rule when bad readings appeared on the test block was to replace or rotate the ball and try again. SRM's from NIST are introduced.

Cylinder Heads: State of the art Cylinder Head Machining Centers incorporates the latest tooling for three-angle seat cutting. Engine manufacturers are putting as many as 5 valves into each cylinder, some with stem diameter as small as 4.5 mm, the only way to have any chance of seat centricity is to use pilot. Then three-angle cutter tips, Seat Counter-bore cutters, core Drills and Reamers and finish reamers are to be used. All these tools are to be preferable made from Tungsten Carbide EMT 100 or for best results EMT 612 grade of Extramet Ag make. The Guide liners being installed need to be finished on the inside diameter by the Tungsten Carbide Sizing ball.

Ball Mills, also known as centrifugal or planetary mills, are devices used to grind materials to colloidal fineness (approximately 1 micron and below) by developing high grinding energy via centrifugal and/or planetary action use Tungsten Carbide Balls as Grinding media, to grind hard samples. These balls minimize Cross Contamination of the sample with the grinding unit material. Agate is always a good choice. In 1983, Koch was the first scientist to make an amorphous metallic structure from two separate elements by mechanical alloying. Back then, he accomplished this feat with ball milling. Koch loads powder along with balls between ¼" to ½" dia into a small mill, which vibrates at about 1200 rpm and this powder is reduced down to the size of 10 manometers. Components manufactured from such nano crystalline metals are referred equivalent to Damascus Swords.

The success in the operation of an Ultrasonic Linear Motor at HF band driving frequency using a Rayleigh wave depends upon the shape of contact surface and the slider materials. Each Slider has 3 balls to enable stable contact at 3 points. After investigations, Tungsten Carbide Balls or Ruby balls have proven to be the best. The maximum transfer speed of about 20 cm/s, controlled by changing the driving voltage can be achieved.

Precision finished Valve guide will reduce engine downtime as well as maintenance costs. To optimize the performance of the valve stem and guide system over the TBO period, the Titan cylinder incorporates a 2-step guide finishing process. After installing undersize intake and exhaust guides, the guides are reamed to a size that is slightly smaller than the finish size. Next, a precision Tungsten Carbide Ball is pushed through the guide to burnish the internal dimension to its final shape and remove any microscopic surface tears that could lead to premature wear and valve sticking

Patent for Solvent free mechanochemical preparation of Phosphonium salts, Phosphonium Ylides and Olefins by method of Ball Milling using tungsten Carbide Balls has been approved by American Dept of Patents and Trademarks recently

Mr. Dennis Walker, R & D Manager, Retco Tool CO say " Use of Bearings with Tungsten Carbide Balls got reduction in cost of labor by reducing 19000 hours of labor for 1 production run." They started using TC Balls in Bearings in Rotors and Stators of the Drills

Abstract from the Research paper from Elsevier Technology Inc, which is contributed to drill the Sea Giant, one of the enormous Oil & Gas Production platforms on the Brent field of the UK Sector of the North Sea.

The Bearings used in Lowflo flowmeters and Hydraulically balanced Metering Pumps, are constructed in Synthetic Sapphire Cups and Tungsten Carbide Balls. Fluids with a high specific gravity may cause the ball in the check valve assembly to float and only TC balls are recommended to counter this effect

(Mr. Donald B. Cameron, Director, Technical Sales & Services, Engineering Products Divn, Pulsafeeder Inc, A Unit of IDEX Corp. New York)