Effects of sintering conditions such as sintering temperature and heating rate on oxygen content, density, microstructure and toughness of sintered Mo were investigated. The oxygen content of the sintered Mo significantly depended on the sintering conditions. The oxygen content of the primary sintered(below 1673 K) Mo influenced the densifications. The number of pores at grain boundaries of the secondary sintered(at 2073 K)Mo depended on the oxygen content of the primary sintered Mo. Grain growth of the secondary sintered Mo was inhibited by the existence of pores at the grain boundaries. The secondary sintered Mo having larger number of pore and smaller grain size demonstrated higher strength.

In order to develop the nano-sized WC powder that improved the hardness of hardmetals, carbothermal reduction of WO3 by C was examined by using the thermogravimetric analysis. At the direct carburization reaction path of , the nano-sized grain was generated at the reaction stage to and W. For trial production, the intermediate products which consists of metal and carbide phases obtained by the first heating has been carburized to the final WC powder. We succeeded in the development of the WC powder of about 70nm. In addition, the nano-sized WC powder in which the vanadium of the most effective grain growth inhibitor was uniformly dispersed was developed.