Overview of Wah Chang
From a history of 'great developments'...
In 1916, mining engineer K.C. Li founded a trading company
for the refinement and export or tungsten and antimony ores
from his native China. Li called his new company Wah Chang,
meaning "great development" - and over the next
several decades his company earned that name, pioneering the
creation of new specialty metals and alloys.
Starting with 140 employees and a single building on 45 acres,
Wah Chang expanded its repertoire of refractory and reactive
metals to include niobium, hafnium, vanadium and tantalum,
as well as titanium.
As the company's product lines grew, so did the variety of
industries it served, including aerospace, chemical processing,
energy production, medical and consumer goods.
Today, Wah Chang is part of the Allegheny Technologies Incorporated
group of specialty metal manufacturers. Based in Pittsburgh,
Pennsylvania, Allegheny Technologies and its global resources
have enabled Wah Chang to strengthen its position as one of
the world's preeminent providers of strong, versatile, corrosion-resistant
metals and a variety zirconium-based chemical products.
... to a new century of innovation
Someone always has to be first... and when it comes to solutions
from specialty metals, "first" is often associated
with the name Wah Chang.
It began in 1956 and it continues today with unique thin foil membranes made
from palladium alloy for separating hydrogen used in fuel
cells, electronics and other applications. For nearly half
a century, Wah Chang has demonstrated how experience leads
to a world of exciting "firsts":
- The first U.S. company to handle all aspects of refractory
metal production, from start to finish.
- First industrialized producer of high-purity zirconium
and hafnium crystal bar.
- First to create fertilizer from metal manufacturing
byproducts.
- Creator of C-103 niobium alloy used in the Apollo lunar
spacecraft.
- Producer of corrosion-resistant Zircadyne® zirconium
for chemical processing industry.
- Producer of superconduction niobium-titanium alloys
used in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).
- Co-developer of Alloy "C" for use in F-119
fighter aircraft.
- Owner of more
than 100 patents on new processes and materials.
"Firsts"
are built on knowledge - our own and that of our customers.
Wah Chang helps develop that knowledge through programs such
as worldwide conferences and seminars as well as on-site support
and in-plant welding seminars. Programs such as these give
our customers the in-depth technical training they need for
selecting, implementing and maintaining metal products that
meet their unique requirements.
Wonder where the next
century's "firsts" in specialty metals solutions
will come from? Look first to Wah Chang.
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