Characteristics and Uses of W-Ag Alloy

Characteristics and Uses of W-Ag Alloy

W-Ag alloy is an alloy composed of tungsten and silver, with a silver content of 30% to 70%. It has the characteristics of high hardness, good welding performance, arc erosion resistance, adhesion resistance, and fusion welding resistance. Therefore, it has a wider range of uses in industry and circuit breakers. For example, it is mainly used as a pre-contact point for low-voltage power switches, crane switches, locomotive switches, high-current switches, and heavy-duty relays, air circuit breakers, etc. In this article, let’s take a closer look at the characteristics and uses of W-Ag alloy.

Characteristics and Uses of W-Ag Alloy

In order to improve certain aspects of the properties of tungsten-silver alloys, such as improving the wettability of silver to tungsten and reducing contact resistance, elements such as cobalt, nickel, copper, and molybdenum are often added to it. Normally, no matter what type of silver-tungsten alloy, the higher the silver content, the better the electrical conductivity while the higher the tungsten content, the better the corrosion and welding performance of the alloy.

In order to reduce the possibility of burnt contacts of large low-voltage circuit breakers, and to carry a stable line current molded case circuit breaker contact and various protection circuit breaker equipment, silver-tungsten materials are made of higher tungsten content. These contacts can also be used for high current contact resistance contact welding and arc erosion. The silver-tungsten electrode material has the characteristics of good conductivity and stable discharge and is generally used for AC welding of aluminum and magnesium alloys.

In addition, silver-tungsten alloys are also widely used in high-temperature resistant materials, electrical alloys for high voltage switches, electrical machining electrodes, and microelectronic materials as parts and components are widely used in aerospace, aviation, electronics, electric power, metallurgy, machinery, sports equipment, and other industries. 

The preparation method of tungsten silver alloy is the same as that of tungsten copper alloy. Because tungsten has an extremely high melting point and silver cannot be mutually melted, it cannot be prepared by traditional methods. The preparation of tungsten-silver alloys must be made by powder metallurgy, and the production of more than 60% of tungsten alloys after immersion will be greater.

Conclusion 

Thank you for reading our article and we hope it can help you better understand the characteristics and uses of W-Ag alloy. If you want to learn more about tungsten alloys or other refractory metals and alloys, we would like to advise you to visit Advanced Refractory Metals (ARM) for more information.

Headquartered in Lake Forest, California, USA, Advanced Refractory Metals (ARM) is a leading manufacturer & supplier of refractory metals & alloys across the world. It provides customers with high-quality refractory metals & alloys such as tungsten, molybdenum, tantalum, rhenium, titanium, and zirconium at a very competitive price.