Microstructure and mechanical properties improvements in cemented carbides by(Cr,Mo,Ta)_(2)(C,N) inhibitors

Grain growth inhibitors can effectively suppress the grain size of tungsten carbide(WC),and consequently improve the hardness and strength of the cemented carbides;however,the toughness,one of the most important properties,usually deteriorates with inhibitors.Here,(Cr,Mo,Ta)_(2)(C,N) synthesized by carbothermal reductionnitridation was used as a novel inhibitor,and its effects on the microstructure and mechanical properties of the cemented carbides were investigated.The results showed that the cemented carbides containing(Cr,Mo,Ta)_(2)(C,N)outperformed its counterpart comprising the traditional inhibitors in comprehensive mechanical properties,which was mainly attributed to the better inhibition performance provided by the(Cr,Mo,Ta)_(2)(C,N) solid-solution powders.With the content of(Cr,Mo,Ta)_(2)(C,N) increasing from 0 wt% to 1.25 wt%,the average grain size of WC in the cemented carbides decreased from 0.85 to 0.60 μm firstly,and then increased to 0.64 μm.With 1.00 wt%(Cr,Mo,-Ta)_(2)(C,N) addition,the cemented carbides with the best performance of hardness(HV_(30)) of 15.55 GPa,transverse rupture strength of 4272 MPa,fracture toughness of13.91 MPa·m1/2 were obtained.The electron backscattered diffraction(EBSD) measurements showed that cemented carbides with(Cr,Mo,Ta)_(2)(C,N) processed more amount of∑2 boundary compared with the other specimens,which contributed to better fracture resistance.