The present study describes the wear and mechanical behaviour of carbide composites in cyclic loading applications (blanking of sheet metal). Adhesive wear as well as fatigue endurance were tested, complemented by XRD studies. It was found that the blanking performance of a carbide composite is controlled by its resistance to adhesion wear and fatigue sensitivity. XRD studies revealed that fatigue damage is preceded by plastic strain in both phases of the composites

The aim of present work is to link geometrical parameter of maximum area of structural defect (proposed by Y. Murakami, 1983) with surface fatigue mechanisms. Determined relations allow making predictions of surface fatigue properties of cemented carbides (WC-Co hardmetal - H15 - 85wt% WC and 15wt %Co, TiC-based cermets - T60/8 - 60wt %TiC and Fe/8wt% Ni and T70/14 - 70wt %TiC and Fe/14wt% Ni) in conditions of rolling contact and impact cycling loading. Pores considered being equivalent to small defects. Three comparative defects conditions are distinguished: surface pore, just below free surface and interior pores. The Vickers hardness of binder (as main responsible for the fracture mechanism of hardmetal and cermets) assumed to be the basis of such assumption. The estimate of this prediction has been done by analyzing the pore sizes using the statistics of extremes. The lower bound of fatigue properties can be correctly predicted by considering the maximum occurring pore size.