To investigate sliding friction and wear behaviors of WC-Co/WC-Co pairs containing different WC grain sizes, the ball-on-disc test in air were carried out, where WC grain sizes a (F.G.) and (C.G.). The wear volume of F.G. pin for F.G. pin/C.G. disc is larger than that of F.G. pin for F.G. pin/F.G. disc due to higher friction coefficient, and the surfaces after wear test are richer in oxygen compared to those before test. Furthermore, the wear debris, which is composed of nona-scale grain, after the wear test are remarkably richer in oxygen than to those before test.

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 this paper, we show some experimental results of binder-free WC sintered by Pulsed Electric Current Sintering (PECS) also known as Field Assisted Sintering Technology (FAST). These binder-free WC have extremely hardness and stiffness. However, these mechanical properties are dependent on the sintering condition, e.g., maximum temperature, applied pressure, etc. We show some relationship between mechanical properties and sintering condition to improve to sinter the binder-free WC.