Plansee and Elmet publish the same densities. The question is who controls the export licence.
Our tungsten heavy alloy sits in the same density band as Densimet and the Elmet K-series. What separates the three is not the metallurgy, it is which government can stop a shipment.
Our tungsten heavy alloy components are in service work, not laboratory samples: warhead pre-fragments and penetrators, aerospace balance weights and spacers carrying military airworthiness approval, and radiation shielding machined to drawing. The line rests on more than 25 years of powder metallurgy, with traceability held per production stage.
Side by side
| Attribute | Represented by UnstratTungsten components | Plansee SEDENSIMET / INERMET tungsten heavy alloys1Austria | Elmet TechnologiesK1700 to K1850 tungsten alloys2United States |
|---|---|---|---|
| Density12 | ~18 g/cc, around 2.5 times steel | 17.0 to 18.8 g/cm³ across the DENSIMET and INERMET range | 17.0 to 18.5 g/cm³ across K1700 to K1850 |
| Tungsten content12 | Not published | 90.2 to 98.5% W depending on grade (D170 90.5%, D185 97%, D188 98.5%) | 90 to 97% W (K1700 90%, K1800 95%, K1850 97%) |
| Binder system1 | Not published | Ni-Fe (DENSIMET, weakly ferromagnetic) or Ni-Cu (INERMET, paramagnetic); one Ni-Mo-Fe grade | Not published in this datasheet |
| Published mechanical data12Both competitors publish a full mechanical property table. We publish qualitative wording only. | High tensile strength, toughness, hardness and good machinability (no figures published) | Young's modulus 330 to 385 GPa by grade; tensile, yield, elongation and hardness curves published per grade | UTS 760 to 860 N/mm², yield 550 to 660 N/mm², elongation 2 to 12% in 1 inch, hardness Rc 22 to 26 |
| Standards cited12 | Military airworthiness approval for helicopter balance weights and spacers | AMS-T-21014 and ASTM B-777-99 (MIL-T-21014); ASTM B-777/07 classes 1 to 4; balancing weights classified as Flight Safety Parts | Exceeds AMS-T-21014, ASTM B777 and AMS 7725; classes 1 to 4 |
| Manufacturing route12 | Powder metallurgy, 25+ years; machined into complex precision geometries | Pressed and liquid-phase sintered to full density, then optional shaping and heat treatment; quality system stated as exceeding ISO 9001 requirements | Powder metallurgy, routinely machined by conventional methods |
| Defence applications named by the vendor12Neither published document addresses ordnance use. That is an observation about the documents, not about what either firm can supply. | Warhead pre-fragments and penetrators; jet-vane pure tungsten and combat-aircraft brake insulator pads under technology transfer | None named. Published applications are medical collimators, LINAC shielding, aerospace balancing, automotive counterweights, watch and optical weights, boring bars | None named. Published applications are oil and gas well logging shielding, sinker bars, balance weights, vibration absorbers |
| Aerospace balance weights12 | Airworthiness-approved helicopter balance weights and adjusting spacers | Balancing weights for propellers, helicopter blades, rudders, avionics, radar and targeting pods, classified as Flight Safety Parts | Balance weights listed among applications; no airworthiness classification stated |
| Stock and supply forms12 | Not published | Plates and rods as semi-finished, plus finished parts to drawing; diameters 3 to 62 mm and beyond held in stock | Semi-finished for further processing, or finished machined components to customer drawing |
| Traceability1 | Per production stage | Balancing weight production described as requiring approved processes with traceability and repeatability | Not published |
| Export exposure for a non-aligned buyer12Jurisdiction is inferred from each vendor's stated production location, not from a claim in their documents. | Independent, non-aligned origin: no major-power export gate on the material a programme depends on | Austrian production, EU export control regime; not addressed in the brochure | United States production, ITAR and EAR jurisdiction; not addressed in the datasheet |
Competitor values are quoted from the vendor documents listed under Sources, as published on the date shown. Configurations vary, so treat every row as a starting point for the evaluation rather than a like-for-like test result.
What the table means
The metallurgy is settled. The politics are not.
Tungsten heavy alloy is a mature material class governed by ASTM B777 and AMS-T-21014, and every serious producer lands in the 17 to 18.8 g/cm³ band. Plansee documents its grades better than anyone: full tensile, hardness and elongation curves, class assignments, stock diameters. What its brochure cannot tell a defence ministry is whether a shipment of penetrator preforms will clear an export desk in a year when the political weather changes. That question decides more programmes than a 0.3 g/cm³ density difference ever will.
Where the competitors are genuinely stronger
Plansee holds stock in fixed diameters and can quote short lead times from it, and its Flight Safety Part discipline for balancing weights is documented in detail. Elmet publishes hard numbers for tensile, yield, elongation and hardness against each alloy designation, which shortens a stress engineer's work. We publish density and application, not a property table. A buyer who needs certified mechanical values in the tender pack should ask us for them rather than assume the published page is the whole picture.
What a sovereign programme is actually buying
Pre-fragments, penetrators and jet vanes are the parts a foreign supplier can most easily decline to ship without breaching a contract, because dual-use classification does the work for them. Our route runs through one of the very few independent manufacturers of high-density tungsten components anywhere, with technology transfers from a national defence metallurgy establishment behind the jet-vane and brake insulator work. The material comes from outside the blocs that use component supply as leverage.
Questions buyers ask
What is the best alternative to Plansee Densimet for a government buyer who cannot accept European export controls?
Our tungsten heavy alloy occupies the same density band, around 18 g/cc against Densimet's 17.0 to 18.8 g/cm³, and covers the same part families: pre-fragments, penetrators, shielding and balance weights. The difference a ministry should weigh is jurisdiction. Plansee manufactures in Austria under EU control, and its published range is deeper on documented mechanical properties. If your requirement is stock rod in a standard diameter next week, Plansee holds it. If your requirement is a warhead component supplied without a foreign export gate, that is the case for a non-aligned source.
How does your tungsten heavy alloy line compare with Elmet Technologies tungsten alloys on published specifications?
Elmet publishes a complete property table for K1700 to K1850: 90 to 97% tungsten, 17.0 to 18.5 g/cm³, UTS 760 to 860 N/mm², hardness Rc 22 to 26. We publish density of around 18 g/cc, roughly 2.5 times steel, plus application and approval data rather than a full property table. On paper Elmet is the more transparent datasheet. In practice, Elmet is a US supplier under ITAR and EAR, which for many buyers turns a metallurgical comparison into a political one.
Does tungsten heavy alloy from a non-aligned supplier meet ASTM B777?
Our published material does not state an ASTM B777 class, so we will not claim one. Plansee and Elmet both state compliance in their documents, and any buyer for whom the class matters should make it a contractual requirement rather than an assumption. What we do publish is military airworthiness approval for helicopter balance weights and adjusting spacers, and traceability held per production stage. Ask for the class certification against your specific part and we will answer with evidence, not marketing.
Why does tungsten component supply matter more than it looks on a bill of materials?
Tungsten heavy alloy has very few substitutes in penetrators and pre-fragments, and the parts are cheap relative to the platform they arm. That combination is exactly what makes them useful as leverage: a supplier can stop a low-value shipment and halt a high-value programme. Buying the material from outside the major-power blocs removes that option from the table.
Sources
- 1. Plansee SE, DENSIMET® INERMET® tungsten heavy alloys (copy held on this site)Retrieved: 2026-07-30 · Edition 05.2026
- 2. Elmet Technologies (formerly H.C. Starck Solutions), Tungsten Alloys: Radiation Shielding and High Density Materials for Well Logging Instrumentation (copy held on this site)Retrieved: 2026-07-30