Tungsten alloy counterweight

Tungsten alloy counterweight introduction

Tungsten heavy alloy is becoming more and more popular for counterweight, balance weights for flywheels, ballast for F1 formula car, racing weights, dynamic balancing, etc. It is the best material of tungsten alloy for the balancing weight, and has been widely known and applied.
Drivers consistently report they can sense differences in how a car handles on the track if the weight on a given wheel varies only by a couple of pounds. Fine tuning a car to a given track is a very cumbersome and time consuming ordeal with conventional lead plate weights. tungsten alloy weight blocks offer up to 50% more weight in a given volume, with the added advantages of direct attachment via threaded holes or thru-bolting and the freedom from deformation. The high density of WHAs permit weights to be placed in the lower half of NASCAR weight adjustment tubes, effectively lowering the overall center of gravity for improved handling. Tungsten product has a specialized line of racing weights for these applications.

Reasons for choosing tungsten heavy alloy as counterweight

Tungsten heavy alloy (WHA) balance weight of racing car is now becoming the most popular material for ballast, due to its main advantages as follows:

Highest density
Adding WHA balance weight into the whole framework of a racing car is helpful to optimize the performance of the racing car during the racing progress, which contributes to the better control of the car's movement.

High tensile strength and good creep resistance
Tungsten has high tensile strength and good creep resistance with a high mass/size ratio, so it will be the ideal to work in a restricted space. Its high density also gives enhanced sensitivity by increasing the control of load distribution.

Machined Easily
WHA is also easily machineable which gives designers greater flexibility in deciding on the final shape of components and offer designers several advantages over conventional balance materials e.g. lead or steel.

Tungsten alloy counterweight can be used in:

Automotive
High environmental compatibility, lower fuel consumption, and improved electronics for more comfort and safety in modern vehicles set high demands for applied materials. Tungsten and molybdenum products of us made from high performance materials advance to new levels of achievement and guarantee maximum efficiency.
Increasing service temperatures and compact, space-saving designs are the demands of the engine generations of the future. High performance tungsten and molybdenum products are best suitable for applications in engines because of their mechanical, chemical, physical and tribological properties. Components made of tungsten heavy alloy with densities up to 18,5 g/cm3 are well-suited for highly effective crankshaft and flywheel balance weights in standard production cars, in racing, shipping or the industrial engine sector.

Motor Sport
The minimum weight requirements of motor sport formulae are often met with ease as more exotic materials give designers the ability to create lighter and stronger components in the search for greater performance.
Adding our ballast weight helps to provide competitive advantage by giving the ability to add ballast within confined spaces in exactly the correct place to both trim the weight distribution and lower the centre of gravity of a competition car and still meet the minimum weight requirements.
A lower centre of gravity can also be achieved by adding tungsten skid plates, which also protect the lower parts of the chassis, especially important in F1, where a ride-height monitoring plank is used.

Engines
Due to its very high density, our tungsten heavy alloy is an ideal material for suppressing vibration in static or moving components. Applications for our tungsten heavy alloy include: Crankshafts, pistons and gear levers in high performance cars; Turbine blades; Flywheels.

Wheel weights
Wheel weights often fall off automobile wheels, leading to lead contamination of the environment.
There is a thriving market in lead-free wheel weights. European and Japanese automobile manufacturers have already switched to lead-free wheel weights and U.S. automobile manufacturers are currently in the process of making the switch. Asian auto manufacturers now primarily use tungsten alloy weights. Tungsten alloy weights are used widely in Europe, and US auto manufacturers are using tungsten alloy weights for automobiles destined for export to Europe.

Related Links

Tungsten Round Bar
Bucking Bars
Material Safety Data Sheet of Tungsten Alloy
Material Safety Data Sheet of Tungsten Alloy (PDF)
Catalog of Tungsten Alloy Products (PDF)