WCu Alloy Contacts

WCu alloy contacts are electrical contacts made primarily of refractory tungsten with copper as an auxiliary material. They are pseudo-alloy products composed of tungsten and copper. They combine the physical properties of both tungsten and copper, exhibiting high melting point, high density, high hardness, low coefficient of thermal expansion, excellent high-temperature resistance, corrosion resistance, electrical and thermal conductivity, and outstanding resistance to arc burn-off and welding. Their core advantage lies in their unique "sweating cooling" effect. When the contact operating temperature rises above 3000℃, the copper in the alloy liquefies and evaporates, absorbing a large amount of arc heat energy, thereby effectively reducing the contact temperature and preventing ablation. With increasing copper content, the conductivity and plasticity of WCu contacts typically improve. In the field of electrical materials, WCu materials with a copper content of 20% to 40% are most widely used, primarily for medium- and high-voltage and medium- and high-current switching devices.