PECULIARITIES IN TUNGSTEN ALLOY PARTS PROCESSING FOR OIL-GAS INDUSTRY

The purpose of the work carried out is to increase the effectiveness of hard alloy machining. Within the limits of the paper there is solved a matter of electro-erosion treatment and turning TC 3 alloy parts. Basic investigation methods are: - experiment and comparison, - computer simulation The work resulted in recommendations for the choice of cutters and cutting modes for hard alloy edge machining and also electrode material at electro-erosion treatment. One of the ways to increase productivity and operation quality equipment consists in the application of new materials and alloys including tungsten alloys. Within the limits of this work there are considered the peculiarities in machining TC3 alloy parts for oil-gas industry by the example of the “sleeve” part. For machining inner and outer surfaces there was used a turning operation, and for complex grooves – electro-erosion treatment as the only possible choice for processing because of a small size of the part. The peculiarities hard alloy machining through turning and basic reasons of hard alloy hard-to-workability are described. There are shown approaches to the choice of cutters, and the dependence of surface roughness and tool durability upon cutting mode choice is shown. During turning plate material must have higher strength than alloy under machining. One of the best choices for hard alloy machining is cubic boron nitride. For processing it is necessary to use tool holders with the increased rigidity. There are presented principles of electrode designing for hard alloy electro-erosion treatment and ways for process productivity increase. The application of copper-tungsten pseudo-alloys and m1 grade copper is compared from the point of view of economic purposefulness in their use. In spite of copper-tungsten alloy high durability which gives advantages in processing rate and economy in manufacturing electrodes its use is economically inexpedient and it is more rational to use copper which is cheaper.