A Review on Binderless Tungsten Carbide: Development and Application

WC-Co alloys have enjoyed great practical significance owing to their excellent properties during the past decades.Despite the advantages,however,recently there have been concerns about the challenges associated with the use of Co,i.e.price instability,toxicity and properties degeneration,which necessitates the fabrication of binderless tungsten carbide(BTC).On the other hand,BTC or BTC composites,none of them,to date has been commercialized and produced on an industrial scale,but only used to a limited extent for specialized applications,such as mechanical seals undergoing high burthen as well as high temperature electrical contacts.There are two challenges in developing BTC:fully densifying the sintered body together with achieving a high toughness.Thus,this review applies towards comprehensively summarize the current knowledge of sintering behavior,microstructure,and mechanical properties of BTC,highlighting the densification improving strategies as well as toughening methods,so as to provide reference for those who would like to enhance the performance of BTC with better reliability advancing them to further wide applications and prepare the material in a way that is environment friendly,harmless to human health and low in production cost.This paper shows that the fabrication of highly dense and high-performance BTC is economically and technically feasible.The properties of BTC can be tailored by judiciously selecting the chemical composition coupled with taking into careful account the effects of processing techniques and parameters.

Microstructure and Property of Hypereutectic High Chromium Cast Iron Prepared by Slope Cooling Body-Centrifugal Casting Method

In this paper, the ring-type ingot of hypereutectic high Cr cast iron was obtained by slope cooling bodycentrifugal casting method （SC-CCM）, and its microstructure and impact toughness were investigated, respectively. The results indicated that, first, the primary carbides in the microstructure are prominently finer than those in the hypereutectic high Cr cast iron prepared by conventional casting method. Second, in the ring-type ingot, the primary carbides near radial outer field are finer than those near radial inner field; furthermore, there is dividing field in the microstructure. Finally, the impact toughness values of the specimens impacted on the radial outer face and on the radial inner face are improved respectively about 36% and 138% more than that of the hypereutectic high Cr one prepared by conventional casting method.

Effect of partial remelting time on the initial carbide in semisolid structure of hypereutectic high Cr cast iron

In order to review the effect of partial remelting time on the morphology of initial carbides, semisolid ingots of hypereutectic high Cr17 cast iron were remelted at 1270℃ for four different times, and the changing characteristics of shape factor and the equivalent diameter of initial carbides were analyzed quantitatively using a Leica image analyzer. The results indicate that firstly, the evolution process of the initial carbides' morphology undergoes melting, spheroidization and refining during the partial remelting; secondly, the solute diffusion and interface tension take dominant roles at the primary and the middle-final stages respectively in the process of initial carbide evolution; finally, a perfect structure can be obtained by remelting semisolid ingots at 1270℃ for 15 min.

Arc Erosion Behavior of Cu–0.23Be–0.84Co Alloy after Heat Treatment: An Experimental Study

The arc erosion behavior of Cu-0.23Be-0.84Co alloy after heat treatment was investigated experimentally by a JF04C electric contact test system. The arc duration, arc energy, contact resistance and contact pressure of Cu-0.23Be- 0.84Co alloy after solution treatment and aging treatment were analyzed. The arc erosion morphologies were contrastively observed by a three-dimensional measuring system and scanning electron microscopy. For the Cu-0.23Be-0.84Co alloy in solution state and aging state, the maximum values of arc duration are 90 and 110 ms, and the arc energies are 15,000 and 18,000 mJ, respectively. The maximum value of the contact resistance of Cu-0.23Be-0.84Co alloy in different states is about 33 mΩ The contact pressure of Cu-0.23Be-0.84Co alloy in solution state generally changes between 50 and 60 cN during whole make-and-break contacts, while in aging state, it has a larger fluctuation range. Moreover, the quality of moving contact （anode） decreases, while static contact （cathode） increases. The materials transfer from anode to cathode during make-and-break contacts. The total mass losses of Cu-0.23Be-0.84Co alloy in solution state and aging state are 3 and 1.2 mg, respectively. In addition, a number of discrete corrosion pits, molten droplet, porosity and cavity distribute on the surface of moving contact and static contact. The arc erosion model of Cu-0.23Be-0.84Co alloy in make-and-break contact was built. The arc erosion resistance of Cu-0.23Be-0.84Co alloy after heat treatment is closely related to the microstructure and the properties of contact materials. This experimental study is important to evaluate the anode or cathode electrocorrosion fatigue life.

Effect of interaction between cementite and pearlite on two-body abrasive wear behaviors in white cast iron

The wear interaction of cementite and pearlite in the white cast iron(WCI)was investigated using the two-body abrasive wear test under contact loads of 20,35,and 50 N.The wear behavior,wear surface morphology,sub-surface structure,and wear resistance were evaluated using X-ray diffraction,microhardness testing,and nano-indentation.The results indicated that when the Cr content was increased from 0 to 4 wt%,there was a significant increase in the microhardness(H)and elasticity modulus(E)of the cementite.This yielded a 15.91%-and 23.6%-reduction in the degree of wear resistance and surface roughness,respectively.Moreover,no spalling and breaking of cementite was observed with increasing Cr content during the wear process,indicating improved wear resistance of the bulk cementite.In addition,the hard phase(cementite)and tough matrix(pearlite)composite structure exhibited a good protective and supporting effect.Thus,it was concluded that the interaction mechanism of the wear phase contributed to the reduction of the wear weight loss of the composite during the wear process.The contribution of the interaction between the hard wear-resistant phase and the tough phase in WCI to the wear resistance decreased with increasing hardness of the pearlite matrix.

Microstructure, mechanical properties and toughening mechanism of directional Fe2B crystal in Fe-B alloy with trace Cr addition

Exploring the effective way to improve Fe2 B's toughness has always been the hot topic in the researches of Fe-B wear resistant alloys.In the present work,the effects of Cr on the microstructure,mechanical properties and lattice structure of directional Fe2 B have been investigated.The affecting mechanism of Cr addition has been discussed according to the experimental and first-principle calculation analysis.The results show Cr addition can improve the toughness of directional Fe2 B on the longitudinal sections perpendicular to(002) crystal plane,without sacrificing the hardness distinctly.The toughening mechanism by Cr substitution has been revealed:Cr addition enriches the electron density between the B atoms along [002] direction,contributing to the shrinkage of the bond length and the enhancement of the bond strength of B-B bonds.The obtained results provide insight into the intrinsic reason for toughening Fe2 B by Cr doping.