Diamond segments were fabricated by cold pressing and sintering under pressure at the temperature up to . Based on the results of this investigation, it can be concluded that the segments containing 39wt.% cobalt in the matrix material have the highest bending strength at a fracture probability of 50 % due to the weibull distribution method. According to the weibull statistics, it was also determined that the transverse rupture strength was the best for 39 wt.% cobalt ratio in the matrix material for the fracture probability when the other variables are the same.

The kinetics of sintering of Co-Fe materials was studied. The main objective was to establish the effects of iron content and sintering parameters on the microstructure and phase composition of the as-sintered material. Specimens containing from 3 to 25 wt.% iron were sintered in a dilatometer for one hour at 900, 1000 and in either hydrogen or nitrogen atmosphere. The length of specimens during the heating, hold at temperature and cooling steps were monitored to establish the sample's shrinkage. Microstructural observations were carried out on polished and etched transverse sections which were also subjected to the X-ray phase analysis.

Dry sliding wear behavior of electro-pressure sintered Co-Fe, Co-Ni and Co-Fe-Ni compacts was investigated. Pin-on-disk wear tests were performed on the sintered compacts disk specimens against alumina and silica ball counterparts at various loads ranging from 3N to 12N. Two sliding speeds of 0.1m/sec and 0.2m/sec and a fixed sliding distance of 1,000m were employed. Worn surfaces and cross sections of them were examined by a scanning electron microscopy, and wear mechanism of the compacts was investigated. Effects of the oxide layer that was formed on wearing surface of the compacts on the wear were also studied.

Effect of phase transformation and grain-size variation of hot-pressed cobalt on its dry sliding wear was investigated. The sliding wear test was carried out against glass (83% SiO2) beads at 100N load using a pin-on-disk wear tester. Worn surfaces, cross sections, and wear debris were examined by an SEM. Phases of the specimen and wear debris were identified by an XRD. Thermal transformation of the cobalt from the hcp ε phase to the γ (fcc) phase during the wear was detected, which was deduced as the wear mechanism of the sintered cobalt.

In this study, the diffusion behaviors of C and Co in liquid phase sintering of WC-Co system were investigated whether these two components diffused in the same direction in case of having opposite gradient each other with not being phase. The green compacts with controlled compositions in not being of phase and gradient composition which one is WC-5Co-1.2%C, the other is WC-XCo-0.2%C (where X = 5, 10, 15, 20, 25) were sintered at and and then the diffusion behaviors of C and Co were investigated by analyses of compositional change, also determined for microstructure and microhardness. Also, same testing was carried out on the specimens with dual layers sintered in upright and reverse positions to evaluate the effect of gravity on the diffusion in liquid Co. From the results of this study, we can find the fact that the direction of diffusion for C and Co in WC-Co system during liquid phase sintering was different and the effect of gravity for the liquid was insignificant. Also other physical properties were changed on the diffusion of elements.

The behavior of hardmetals under cyclic loads is investigated. Unnotched specimens were employed to obtain practical information regarding fatigue in hardmetals. All the tested hardmetals exhibit an increase in the number of cycles until failure with a decrease in the maximum stress, i.e., the hardmetals exhibit a high fatigue sensitivity. The fatigue strength increases with the cobalt content. Although distinct fatigue limits, as observed in metals, cannot be observed, the calculated fatigue limit stress at cycles is found to be approximately 70% of the flexural strength, and the stress value exhibits a linear relationship with the flexural stress.

In the present study, the focus is on the effect of cobalt oxide powder in the carbothermal reduction of the titanium-cobalt-oxygen based oxide powder by solid carbon for the optimizing synthesis process of ultra fine TiC/Co composite powder. The titanium-cobalt-oxygen based oxide powder was prepared by the combination of the spray drying and desalting processes using the titanium dioxide powder and cobalt nitrate as the raw materials. The titanium-cobalt-oxygen based oxide powder was mixed with carbon black, and then this mixture was carbothermally reduced under flowing argon atmosphere. Changes in the phase structure and thermal gravity of the mixture during carbothermal reduction were analysed using XRD and TGA. Titanium-cobalt-oxygen based oxide powder desalted at had a mixture of . And the one desalted at had a mixture of . In the case of the former powder, the reduction of cobalt oxide powder in the titanium-cobalt-oxygen based oxide powder occurred at lower temperature than the latter one. However, the carbothermal reduction of titanium dioxide powder in the titanium-cobalt-oxygen based oxide powder with a mixture of occurred at higher temperature than the one with a mixture of . And also, the former powder showed a lower TiC formation ability than the latter one.

In the present study, the focus is on the analysis of carbothermal reduction of the titanium-cobalt-oxygen based oxide powder by solid carbon for the optimizing synthesis process of ultra fined TiC/Co composite powder. The titanium-cobalt-oxygen based oxide powder was prepared by the combination of the spray drying and desalting processes using the titanium dioxide powder and cobalt nitrate as the raw materials. The titanium-cobalt-oxygen based oxide powder was mixed with carbon black, and then this mixture was carbothermally reduced under a flowing argon atmosphere. The changes in the phase structure and thermal gravity of the mixture during carbothermal reduction were analysed using XRD and TGA. The synthesized titanium-cobalt-oxygen based oxide powder has a mixture of and . This oxide powder was transformed to a mixed state of titanium car-bide and cobalt by solid carbon through four steps of carbothermal reduction steps with increasing temperature; reduction of to and Co, reduction of , to the magneli phase(, n>3), reduction of the mag-neli phase(, n>3) to the (2n3) phases, and reduction and carburization of the (2n3) phases to titanium carbide.