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Why do tungsten carbide seal rings fail?

Seal rings fail in one of four modes — abrasion, erosion, thermal cracking, or binder corrosion. Each needs a different fix, and picking the wrong one is how you end up replacing the ring every few weeks.

• Abrasive wear (particles in the fluid) — fine parallel scratches, face loses flatness. Fix: harder grade, YG6X (HRA 91.5) or YG6 (HRA 90.0).
• Erosion (high-velocity flow) — smooth, scalloped, wavy material loss, not scratches. Harder grades help; aggressive flow may need a design change.
• Thermal cracking (dry running, loss of flush) — fine crack network that grows into chipping. Fix is not more hardness: low-binder fine-grain grades resist heat checking.
• Binder corrosion (fluid leaches cobalt) — porous, spongy, weakened skin. No hardness grade fixes this; use a nickel-binder corrosion-resistant grade.

How to tell them apart: scratches = abrasion · smooth scalloping = erosion · crack network = thermal · spongy surface = corrosion. Send a photo of the failed face plus the duty (media, temperature, pressure, speed) and we'll pick the grade in one round — quote within 1–2 business days.