Tungsten has become an essential material for a wide variety of applications. It has the highest melting point of any metal, and its high density is equaled only by gold, platinum, and a few other rare and expensive metals.
Pure tungsten is quite brittle and difficult to machine. The addition of elements such as nickel, copper, and iron, creates a family of materials with extremely useful properties. These alloys are economically fabricated by powder metallurgy techniques and are routinely machined by conventional methods. Mechanical properties add tensile strength, ductility, hardness-compare favorably with common engineering materials such as steel.
Twice as heavy as steel and more than 50% heavier than lead, tungsten high-density alloys have found wide acceptance where a concentrated mass is required in a limited space for such applications as counter weights, radiation shielding, and a large variety of other uses.