Comparative Study on Microstructure and Mechanical Properties of Coarse-grained WC-based Cemented Carbides Sintered with Ultrafine WC or (W+C) as Additives

The effects of ultrafine WC(WC_(UF),0.5μm) or W(1μm) and C(0.3μm)(W+C)_(UF) additives on the densification,microstructure and mechanical properties of coarse-grained cemented carbides were compared systematically.Overall,the cemented carbides with WC_(UF)/(W+C)_(UF) additives are almost fully densification to be higher than 99%,and the average grain size is kept above 2.8μm.The WC_(UF) additive assists grains to(truncated)trigonal prism shape by two dimensional(2D) growth,whereas the(W+C)_(UF) additive assists grains to rounded shape by three dimensional(3D) growth,lowers WC contiguity and increases face-centered-cubic Co.The hardness and bending strength of(75WC_(C)-15WC_(UF))-10Co are 86.6 HRA and 2 272 MPa,respectively,both higher than those of(75WC_(C)-15(W+C)_(UF))-10Co,which could be ascribed to the enhanced densification and unblemished grains.However,the fracture toughness of the(75WC_(C)-15(W+C)_(UF))-10Co is 23.5 MPa·m^(1/2),higher than that of the(75WC_(C)-15WC_(UF))-10Co due to the uniform WC-Co structure and flexible binder phase.

Effects of Ta C on microstructure and mechanical properties of coarse grained WC-9Co cemented carbides

Coarse grained WC-9Co cemented carbides with 0-1.0% TaC(mass fraction) were fabricated by HIP-sintering and gas quenching. The effects of TaC on the microstructures and mechanical properties were investigated using scanning electron microscopy(SEM), energy dispersive X-ray analysis(EDS), X-ray diffractometry(XRD) and mechanical properties tests. The results show that the maximum values of hardness and strength are HV 1124 and 2466 MPa respectively when 0.4% TaC is added. When the content of TaC is more than 0.6%, the grain size of WC is no longer affected by the amount of TaC, and(W,Ta)C occurs as well. Moreover, the strength and fracture toughness increase and the(Ta+W) content decreases with the increase of TaC content. The dependence of(Ta+W) content on the mechanical properties indicates that(Ta+W) content in Co should be decreased as low as possible to improve the mechanical properties of coarse grained WC-TaC-9Co cemented carbides with the microstructure of WC+γ two phase regions.

Elastoplastic response of functionally graded cemented carbides due to thermal loading

Finite dement formulations are used to simulate the evolution of the elastoplastic response of functionally graded cemented carbides （FGCC） due to thermal loading. The geometry of specimens is an axisymmetric solid cylinder with a two-dimensional gradient. The elastoplastic constitutive relationship is developed by constraint factors. Numerical results show that compressive stresses occur in the surface zone and tensile stresses in the cobalt rich zone when the temperature drops from the initial stress-free temperature of 800 to 0℃. The maximum value of the surface compressive stress is 254 MPa and the maximum value of the tensile stress is 252 MPa in the cobalt rich zones. When the cobalt concentration difference in the specimens is equal to or greater than 0.3, there is pronounced plastic flow in cobalt rich zone. When the temperature heats up from 0 to 800 ℃, the total plastic strain reaches 0.001 4. Plastic flow has a significant effect on the reduction of thermal stress concentration.

Microstructure and formation process of Ni-pool defect in WC-8Ni cemented carbides

The morphologies and formation process of Ni-pool defects in WC?8Ni cemented carbides were studied. The SEM images show that Ni-pool generally has two kinds of morphologies: “island” in isolation and “ring” around a new phase. In the obtained samples with “ring-like Ni-pool”, WC, Ni and Ni2W4C (η phase) phases were detected in XRD patterns. Combined with SEM, EDX and XRD results, it is found that the phase in the center of the “ring-like Ni-pool” is Ni2W4C (η phase) and the main chemical components of Ni-pool are Ni, W and C. In addition, the relationships among large size Ni (agglomerated) particles, volatile impurities, pores and carbon content vs forming process of the Ni-pool defects for WC?8Ni cemented carbides are also presented and discussed.

Effects of deep cryogenic treatment on microstructure and properties of WC-11Co cemented carbides with various carbon contents

The effects of deep cryogenic treatment on the microstructure and properties of WC-11 Co cemented carbides with various carbon contents were investigated.The results show that after deep cryogenic treatment,WC grains are refined into triangular prism with sound edges via the process of spheroidization,but WC grain size has no evident change compared with that of untreated alloys.The phase transformation of Co phase from α-Co（FCC） to ε-Co（HCP） is observed in the cryogenically treated alloys,which is attributed to the decrease of W solubility in the binder（Co）.Deep cryogenic treatment enhances the hardness and bending strength of the alloys,while it has no significant effects on the density and cobalt magnetic performance.

Growth kinetics of cubic carbide free layers in graded cemented carbides

In order to reveal the formation mechanism of cubic carbide free layers （CCFL）, graded cemented carbides with CCFL in the surface zone were fabricated by a one-step sintering procedure in vacuum, and the analysis on microstructure and element distribution were performed by scanning electron microscopy （SEM） and electron probe micro-analyzer （EPMA）, respectively. A new physical model and ki- netic equation were established based on experimental results. Being different f^om previous models, this model suggests that nitrogen diffu- sion outward is only considered as an induction factor, and the diffusion of titanium through liquid phase plays a dominative role. The driving force of diffusion is expressed as the differential value between nitrogen partial pressure and nitrogen equilibrium pressure essentially. Simulation results by the kinetic equation are in good agreement with experimental values, and the effect of process parameters on the growth kinetics of CCFL can also be explained reasonably by the current model.

Properties and microstructure of VC/Cr_3C_2-doped WC/Co cemented carbides

This paper deals with the effects of codoped VC/Cr3C2 and sintering temperature on the magnetic and mechanical properties of ultra-fine grained WC-12%Co alloys. Results show that the synergistic action of doped VC/Cr3C2 in optimal proportion enhances both the hardness and transverse rupture strength （TRS） of the alloys, with more homogeneous microstructtLre. When the alloy is sintered at 1430℃ and with 0.5% Cr3C2/0.2% VC, the TRS reaches 3786 MPa, the hardness is 91.7 HRA and the grain size smaller than 0.6 μm. The numerical analyses on grain growth during the sintering process show that both VC precipitating on the WC grain boundary and Cr3C2 dissolving in the Co phase decrease the solid/liquid interfacial energy γ, the process of dissolution and reprecipitation is greatly retarded and the coarsening of WC grains is inhibited.

Change in relative density of WC-Co cemented carbides in spark plasma sintering process

The relative density of WC-Co cemented carbides during spark plasma sintering（SPS） was analyzed.Based on the change in displacement of the ram in the SPS system,the relative densities in the sintering process can be achieved at different temperatures.The results indicated that densification of the samples started at near 900°C,the density rapidly reached its maximum at the increasing temperature stage,in which the temperature was lower than the sintering temperature of 1200°C,and most of the densification took place in the stage.Besides,the theoretical values were consistent with the experimental results.

Sintering characteristics and microstructure of WC-Co-VC/Cr_3C_2 ultrafine cemented carbides

The sintering characteristics, microstructure, and mechanical properties of ultrafine WC-12%Co-0.2%VC/0.5%Cr3C2 cemented carbides were investigated. Dilatometric and differential thermal analyses （DTA） indicate that the compacts start to shrink at 600°C, the shrinkage rate peak is at 1190°C, and the liquid formation temperature is lower than the W-C-Co eutectic temperature （1330°C）. Microstructure analysis results show that the cemented carbides with fine and homogeneous microstructure were obtained when sintered at 1430°C. Continuous and discontinuous grain growth was suppressed due to the synergistic action of VC/Cr3C2. The transverse rupture strength （TRS） of the samples reaches 4286 MPa, with the hardness HRA 92.1. The fine and homogeneous microstructure, alloy strengthening, and different phase constitutions of binder in the cemented carbides result in high hardness and TRS. Continuous and discontinuous grain growth was observed in the cemented carbide sintered at 1450°C, which results in significant decreases of hardness and TRS. It indicates that VC/Cr3C2 additions in the cemented carbides can only suppress the grain growth at a certain temperature.

Effect of stress ratio on fatigue lifetime and crack growth behavior of WC-Co cemented carbide

Two types of fatigue tests, a rotating bending fatigue test and a three- or four-point bending fatigue test, were carried out on a fine grained WC-Co cemented carbide to evaluate its fatigue crack growth behavior and fatigue lifetime. From successive observations of the specimen surface during the fatigue process, it was revealed that most of the fatigue lifetime of the tested WC-Co cemented carbide was occupied with crack growth cycles. Using the basic equation of fracture mechanics, the relationship between the fatigue crack growth rate(da/dN) and the maximum stress intensity factor(Kmax) was derived. From this relation, both the values of the threshold intensity factor(Kth) and the fatigue fracture toughness(Kfc) of the material were determined. The fatigue lifetime of the WC-Co cemented carbide was estimated by analysis based on the modified linear elastic fracture mechanics approach. Good agreement between the estimated and experimental fatigue lifetimes was confirmed.

β→α Transformation of γ-Phase in Sintered WC-Co Cemented Carbides

Varying the morphology and the structure of γ-phase (Co-base Co-W-C solid solution) by means of altering the cooling rate and the preparing method of liquid sintered WC-Co cemented carbides samples, the mechanism of fcc→hcp transformation of γ-phase in WC-Co alloy has been explored. The results show that, the cooling rate is an important affecting factor on fcc→hcp transformation of γ-phase and the fcc→hcp transformation is mainly a diffusive type when cooling WC-Co samples above room temperature

Effects of Phosphorus Additions on Microwave Sintering Properties of Uitrafine WC-10Co Cemented Carbides

Using the microwave sintering technology, the effects of phosphorus （P） additions on the microstructure and properties of the ultrafine WC-10Co alloys were investigated. The experimental results show that with only 0.3wt% P additions, full density WC-10Co cermets were obtained at temperature of 1250℃, which is 70 ℃ lower than that of the undoped counterparts. Lower sintering temperature can result in finer WC grain growth; therefore, the P-doped WC-10Co alloys exhibited higher hardness than the undoped ones. But at the same time, P doping could lead to sacrifice of fracture toughness ofWC-10Co cemented carbides.

Preparation and properties of Ni-coated WC powder and highly impact resistant and corrosion resistant WC-Ni cemented carbides

WC powders were uniformly coated by Ni nanoparticles through a combined chemical co-precipitation and subsequent high temperature hydrogen reduction strategy(abbreviated as CM-WCN),and then were consolidated by vacuum sintering at 1450°C for 1 h to obtain WC−Ni cemented carbides.The microstructure and properties of the as-consolidated CM-WCN were investigated.The average grain size of WC in the consolidated CM-WCN was calculated to be in the range of 3.0−3.8μm and only few pores were observed.A relative density of 99.6%,hardness of HRA 86.5 and bending strength of 1860 MPa were obtained for the CM-WCN−10wt.%Ni,and the highest impact toughness of 6.17 J/cm^(2 )was obtained for the CM-WCN−12wt.%Ni,surpassing those of the hand mixed WC−Ni(HM-WCN)cemented carbides examined in this study and the other similar materials in the literature.CM-WCN cemented carbides possess excellent mechanical properties,due to their highly uniform structure and low porosity that could be ascribed to the intergranular-dominated fracture mode accompanied by a large number of plastic deformation tears of the bonding phase.In addition,the corrosion resistance of CM-WCN was superior to that of HM-WCN at the Ni content of 6−12 wt.%.

Coercive Force of γ-Phase in WC-Co Cemented Carbides

The influence of γ-phase composition in WC-Co cemented carbides on its specific coercive force H_(sc) hasbeen studied by analysing the imitative alloys of γ-phase. The results show that the H_(sc) of γ-phase is lower thanthat of pure cobalt, because the solute W can raise γ-phase H_(sc) but the carbon exhibits more intense negativeeffect on H_(sc). The effect is enhanced with raising the C solubilities in γ-phase.

MAGNETIC PROPERTY OF BINDER IN WC-Co CEMENTED CARBIDES

Tianjin Institute of Hard Alloy,Tianjin 300222,China ABSTRACT The effects of solutes of wolfram and carbon on specific saturation magnetization(4πσ)of cobalt have been examined on the basis of the measurement of Ana for hexagonal typeα-Co and cubic typeβ-Co.The Co-W-C solid solution simulative alloys have been fabricated according to binder composition in WC-Co cemented carbides and the effect of its component and structure on its Ana has been discussed too.It is pointed out that the Co phase structural factor must be considered as measuring the Ana of WC-Co cemented carbides.

Comparison between the electrical resistance and the shear strength of brazed cemented carbides

Brazing is a suitable technology to join different materials such as cemented carbides and steel. Even though this technology has been investigated for many years, insufficient joints can occur easily, as the brazing process is very sensitive concerning the handling parameters. Defects such as voids and cracks are hard to detect by commonly used visual inspection methods. Other nondestructive methods such as radiography or ultrasonic testing are usually not economical for the examination of these joints. Studies proved that the electrical resistance has the potential to serve as an effective alternative for the evaluation of brazed joints. In this study, the authors have compared the electrical resistance and the shear strength. For this, cemented carbides were brazed to steel by means of induction heating at an ambient atmosphere. A silver-based filler metal （ BrazeTec 4900 / Ag 449 ） and a flux （ BrazeTec spezial h / FH12） were selected to enable the brazing process. The brazing time and the temperature were varied in order to produce different joint qualities. After brazing, the resistance was measured on each joint with the 4-point probe method to facilitate a high accuracy. The results underline the possibility to use electrical resistance measurements as an effective tool for a quality control of brazed joints.

Manufacture of the Ultrafine Grain WC/Co Cemented Carbides by Combined Sintering Processing

A new kind of sintering process, combined sintering process. i.e. vacuum sintering plus hot isolate pressure sintering (HIP), was introduced for producing ultrafine WC-10% Co (mass fraction. so as the follows) cemented carbides. The effects of some processing parameters on the microstructure and mechanical properties of the obtained cemented carbides were studied. The results show that the rapid shrinkage and the pronounced densification of tile cemented carbides took place during the vacuum sintering stage, which is intinaately correlated with the local liquid sintering occurred during this earl} sintering stage for the high surface activity of ultrafine WC-Co powder. The way of high pressure imposing. isothermal treatment cycle during ac.acuum sintering and HIP sintering stage directly influence the densitication of compacts and the mechanical properties of the produced WC-10%Co cemented carbides.

The effect of binder phase content on WC-AlCoCrFeNiTi_(0.2) high entropy cemented carbides microstructure and mechanical properties

Thiswork aims to explore WC-G201 high entropy cemented carbides properties fabricated by spark plasma sintering with AlCoCrFeNiTi_(0.2)and WC as binder phase and hard phase respectively.AlCoCrFeNiTi_(0.2)powder and WC powder were mixed at the mass ratio of 5:95,10:90 and 15:85 respectively,and then via SPS at 1300℃for 5min.The results show that the binder phase has good wettability to WC,and with the increase of binder phase content,the hardness of the alloy decreases gradually,fracture toughness increases first and then decreases,the maximum value is 7.88 MPa m1/2.It is estimated that the comprehensive mechanical property of cemented carbides is the best when the binder content is between 5wt%and 10wt%.

Thermal residual stress analysis of diamond coating on graded cemented carbides

Finite element model was developed to analyze thermal residual stress distribution of diamond coating on graded and homogeneous substrates. Graded cemented carbides were formed by carburizing pretreatment to reduce the cobalt content in the surface layer and improve adhesion of diamond coating. The numerical calculation results show that the surface compressive stress of diamond coating is 950 MPa for graded substrate and l 250 MPa for homogenous substrate, the thermal residual stress decreases by around 24% due to diamond coating. Carburizing pretreatment is good for diamond nucleation rate, and can increase the interface strength between diamond coating and substrate.

Effects of Implant Copper Layer on Diamond Film Deposition on Cemented Carbides

The deposition of high-quality diamond films and their adhesion on cemented carbides are strongly influenced by the catalytic effect of cobalt under typical deposition conditions. Decreasing Co content on the surface of the cemented carbide is often used for the diamond film deposition. But the leaching of Co from the WC-Co substrate leading to a mechanical weak surface often causes a poor adhesion. In this paper we adopted an implant copper layer prepared by vaporization to improve the mechanical properties of the Co-leached substrate. The diamond films were grown by microwave plasma chemical vapor deposition from CH4:H2 gas mixture. The cross section and the morphology of the diamond film were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The non-diamond content in the film was analyzed by Raman spectroscopy. The effects of pretreatment on the concentrations of Co and Cu near the interfacial region were examined by energy dispersive spectrum (EDS) equipped with SEM. The adhesion of the diamond on the substrate was evaluated with a Rockwell-type hardness tester. The results indicate that the diamond films prepared with implant copper layer have a good adhesion to the cemented carbide substrate due to the recovery of the mechanical properties of the Co-depleted substrate after the copper implantation and the formation of less amorphous carbon between the substrate and the diamond film.