Another Important Application of Tungsten in Aircraft High Specific Gravity Alloy

When pilots fly an aircraft, the weight and gravity of the ship will affect the safety, maneuverability and performance of the aircraft. It is essential to maintain a stable center of gravity for optimal control and compliance with flight safety standards.

After considering the necessary airborne equipment, fuel and passengers, it may be important to increase or distribute more weight so that the aircraft is within the allowable weight range. In order to achieve this process, it is necessary to install balancing counterweights temporarily or permanently.

Tungsten alloy has the advantages of high density, high strength and hardness, good thermal conductivity and weldability, good oxidation resistance and low thermal expansion coefficient. It can also be used in aircraft load simulation during flight test to determine the exact position of ballast under different payloads. In any case, tungsten alloys are currently the most effective material for balancing the overall weight of aircraft. Balanced weight components made of tungsten are easier to meet the AS9100 standard (AS9100 is an internationally recognized quality standard formulated by the aviation and aerospace industry).

High specific gravity tungsten alloys can be classified into W-Ni-Fe, W-Ni-Cu, W-WC-Cu and W-Ag according to their composition and application. Their densities are between 16.5 and 19.0 g/cm³. Because of the need to mix variable copper and nickel-gold metals, powder metallurgy is generally used to manufacture high specific gravity alloy, which generally require sintering degree. Although the technology now also has 3D printing technology to achieve tungsten alloy manufacturing. However, tungsten is a refractory metal with high melting point, so high specific gravity alloys are still generally produced by traditional methods. The traditional method of sintering high specific gravity alloy is hydrogen reduction sintering. It is to sinter compacts in graphite or molybdenum boats under hydrogen protection. In addition, there are vacuum sintering + isostatic pressing combined process, sintering-hot isostatic pressing process and so on.

Tungsten-based high specific gravity alloys are usually classified as temporary and permanent in aircraft. Temporary general bolts are fixed to the structure of the aircraft. They can be added and removed as needed, indicating their use and total weight. Once the temporary ballast is removed, the weight and balance of the aircraft must be checked again. If it is a permanent balance, it must be fixed and labeled to avoid accidental removal from the aircraft.

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