To test the correlation between grain shape and growth behavior we prepared WC-TiC-Co samples with rounded (Ti, W)C grains and faceted WC grains. The growth of rounded (Ti, W)C grains was normal. In contrast, the growth of faceted WC grains was abnormal or suppressed depending on the initial size of WC particles. These observations were explained using growth theories of crystals in a liquid and were also confirmed by a simulation using their growth equations. The present results thus demonstrate that the growth behavior of carbide grains in a liquid is governed only by their shape, irrespective of the presence of another phase.

• Yoon
• Byung-Kwon
• Kang
• Suk-Joong L.