The green body of WC-Co cemented carbides containing polymeric binders such as paraffin, polyethylene glycol (PEG), and polyvinyl acetate (PVA) are prepared. The green density of the WC-Co cemented carbides increases with the addition of binders, with the exception of PVA, which is known to be a polar polymeric substance. The green strength of the WC-Co cemented carbides improves with the addition of paraffin and a mixture of PEG400 and PEG4000. In contrast, the green strength of the WC-Co does not increase when PEG400 and PEG4000 is added individually. The compressive strength of the green body increases to 14 MPa, and the machinability of the green body improves when more than 4–6 wt% paraffin and a mixture of PEG400 and PEG4000 is used. Simultaneously, the sintered density of WC-Co is as high as 99% relative density, similar to a low binder addition of 1–2 wt%.

In this study, binderless-WC, WC-6 wt%Co, WC-6wt% 1 and 2.5 B4C materials are fabricated by spark plasma sintering process (SPS process). Each fabricated WC material is almost completely dense, with a relative density up to 99.5 % after the simultaneous application of pressure of 60 MPa. The WC added Co and Co-B4C materials resulted in crystalline growth. The WC with HCP crystal structure has respective interfacial energy (basal facet direction: 1.07 ~ 1.34 J·m−2, prismatic direction: 1.43 ~ 3.02 J·m−2) that depends on the grain growth direction. It is confirmed that the continuous grain growth, biased by the basal facet, which has relatively low energy, is promoted at the WC/Co interface. As abnormal grain growth takes place, the grain size increases more than twice from 0.37 to 0.8 um. It is found through analysis that the hardness property also greatly decreases from about 2661.4 to 1721.4 kg/mm2, along with the grain growth.

Expensive PCBN or ceramic cutting tools are used for processing of difficult-to-cut materials such as Ti and Ni alloy materials. These tools have the problem of breaking easily due to their high hardness but low fracture toughness. To solve these problems, cutting tools that form various coating layers are used in low-cost WC-Co hard material tools, and research on various tool materials is being conducted. In this study, binderless-WC, WC-6 wt%Co, WC-6 wt%Co-1 wt% Mo2C, and WC-6 wt%Co-2.5 wt% Mo2C hard materials are densified using horizontal ball milled WC-Co, WC-Co-Mo2C powders, and spark plasma sintering process (SPS process). Each SPSed Binderless-WC, WC-6 wt%Co-1 wt% Mo2C, and WC-6 wt%Co- 2.5 wt% Mo2C hard materials are almost completely dense, with relative density of up to 99.5 % after the simultaneous application of pressure of 60 MPa and almost no significant change in grain size. The average grain sizes of WC for Binderless- WC, WC-6 wt%Co-1 wt% Mo2C, and WC-6 wt%Co-2.5 wt% Mo2C hard materials are about 0.37, 0.6, 0.54, and 0.43 μm, respectively. Mechanical properties, microstructure, and phase analysis of SPSed Binderless-WC, WC-6 wt%Co-1 wt% Mo2C, and WC-6 wt%Co-2.5 wt% Mo2C hard materials are investigated.

Tungsten carbide (WC) hard materials are used in various industries and possess a superior hardness compared to other hard materials. They have particularly high melting points, high strength, and abrasion resistance. Accordingly, tungsten carbide hard materials are used for wear-resistant tools, cutting tools, machining tools, and other tooling materials. In this study, the WC-5wt.%Co, Fe, Ni hard materials are densified using the horizontal ball milled WC-Co, WC-Fe, and WC-Ni powders by a spark plasma sintering process. The WC-5Co, WC-5Fe, and WC-5Ni hard materials are almost completely densified with a relative density of up to 99.6% after simultaneous application of a pressure of 60 MPa and an electric current for about 15 min without any significant change in the grain size. The average grain size of WC-5Co, WC-5Fe, and WC-5Ni that was produced through SPS was about 0.421, 0.779, and 0.429 μm, respectively. The hardness and fracture toughness of the dense WC-5Co, WC-5Fe, WC-5Ni hard materials were also investigated.

This study focuses on the fabrication of a WC/Co composite powder from the oxide of WC/Co hardmetal scrap using solid carbon in a hydrogen gas atmosphere for the recycling of WC/Co hardmetal. Mixed powders are manufactured by mechanically milling the oxide powder of WC-13 wt% Co hardmetal scrap and carbon black with varying powder/ball weight ratios. The oxide powder of WC-13 wt% Co hardmetal scrap consists of WO3 and CoWO4. The mixed powder mechanically milled at a lower powder/ball weight ratio (high mechanical milling energy) has a more rapid carbothermal reduction reaction in the formation of WC and Co phases compared with that mechanically milled at a higher powder/ball weight ratio (lower mechanical milling energy). The WC/Co composite powder is fabricated at 900℃ for 6 h from the oxide of WC/Co hardmetal scrap using solid carbon in a hydrogen gas atmosphere. The fabricated WC/Co composite powder has a particle size of approximately 0.25-0.5 μm.

In this study we manufacture a Ni-Cr-B-Si +WC/12Co composite coating layer on a Cu base material using a laser cladding (LC) process, and investigate the microstructural and mechanical properties of the LC coating and Ni electroplating layers (reference material). The initial powder used for the LC coating layer is a powder feedstock with an average particle size of 125 μm. To identify the microstructural and mechanical properties, OM, SEM, XRD, room and high temperature hardness, and wear tests are implemented. Microstructural observation of the initial powder and LC coating layer confirm the layer is composed mainly of γ-Ni phases and WC and Cr23C6 carbides. The measured hardness of the LC coating and Ni electroplating layers are 653 and 154 Hv, respectively. The hardness measurement from room up to high temperatures of 700°C result in a hardness decrease as the temperature increases, but the hardness of the LC coating layer is higher for all temperature conditions. Room temperature wear results show that the wear loss of the LC coating layer is 1/12 of the wear level of the Ni electroplating layer. The measured bond strength is also greater in the LC coating than the Ni electroplating.

This study focuses on the development of an alkaline leaching hydrometallurgy process for the recovery of tungsten from WC/Co hardmetal sludge, and an examination of the effect of the process parameters on tungsten recovery. The alkaline leaching hydrometallurgy process has four stages, i.e., oxidation of the sludge, leaching of tungsten by NaOH, refinement of the leaching solution, and precipitation of tungsten. The WC/Co hardmetal sludge oxide consists of WO3 and CoWO4. The leaching of tungsten is most affected by the leaching temperature, followed by the NaOH concentration and the leaching time. About 99% of tungsten in the WC/Co hardmetal sludge is leached at temperatures above 90oC and a NaOH concentration above 15%. For refinement of the leaching solution, pH control of the solution using HCl is more effective than the addition of Na2S·9H2O. The tungsten is precipitated as high-purity H2WO4·H2O by pH control using HCl. With decreasing pH of the solution, the tungsten recovery rate increases and then decrease. About 93% of tungsten in the WC/Co hardmetal sludge is recovered by the alkaline leaching hydrometallurgy process.

Cemented tungsten carbide has been used in cutting tools and die materials, and is an important industrial material. When the particle size is reduced to ultrafine, the hardness and other mechanical properties are improved remarkably. Ultrafine cemented carbide with high toughness and hardness is now widely used. The objective of this study is synthesis of nanostructured WC-Co powders by liquid phase method of tungstate. The precursor powders were obtained by freezen-drying of aqueous solution of soluble salts, such as ammonium metatungstate, cobalt nitrate. the final compositions were WC-10Co. In the case of liquid phase method, it can be observed synthesis of WC-10Co. The properties of powder produced at various temperature, were estimated from the SEM, BET and C/S analyser.

[ ] a cathode material for lithium rechargeable batteries, was prepared using recycled . First, the cobalt hydroxide powders were separated from waste WC-Co hard metal with acid-base chemical treatment, and then the impurities were eliminated by centrifuge method. Subsequently, powders were prepared by thermal treatment of resulting . By adding a certain amount of and , the was obtained by sintering for 10 h in air at . The synthesized particles were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) analysis.

In order to investigate the microstructure and mechanical properties of WC-10 wt% Co insert tool alloy fabricated by PIM (Powder Injection Molding) process, the feedstock of WC-10 wt% and wax used as a kind of binder were mixed together by two blade mixer. After injection molding, the debinding process was carried out by two-steps. First, solvent extraction, in which the binder was eliminated by putting the specimen into normal hexane for 24 hrs at , and subsequently thermal debinding which was conducted at and for 6 hrs in the mixed gas of , respectively. Meantime, in order to compensate the decarburization due to hydrogen, 1.2~1.8% of carbon was added to ensure the integrity of the phase. Finally, the specimens were sintered in vacuum under different temperatures, and the relative density of 99.8% and hardness of 2100 Hv can be achieved when sintered at , even the TRS is lower than the conventional sintering process.

The knowledge of grain growth of carbide particles is very important for manufacturing micrograined cemented carbides. In the present study, continuous and discontinuous grain growth in WC-Co and WC-VC-Co cemented carbides is investigated using the Monte Carlo computer simulation technique. The Ostwald ripening process (solution/re-precipitation) and the grain boundary migration process are assumed in the simulation as the grain growth mechanism. The effects of liquid phase fraction, grain boundary energy and implanted coarse grain are examined. At higher liquid phase content, mass transfer via solid/liquid interfaces plays a major role in grain growth. Growth rate of the implanted grain was higher than that of the matrix grains through solution/re-precipitation and coalescence with neighboring grains. The results of these simulations qualitatively agree with experimental ones and suggest that distribution of liquid phase and carbide particle/carbide grain boundary energy as well as contamination by coarse grain are important factors controlling discontinuous grain growth in WC-Co and WC-VC-Co cemented carbides. The contamination by coarse grains must by avoided in the manufacturing process of fine grain cemented carbides, especially with low Co.

The degree of WC decomposition and hardness of thermally sprayed WC-Co coatings are important factors determining the wear resistance of the coatings. In order to minimize the degree of decomposition and to increase hardness, the effects of processing parameters of high velocity oxyfuel(HVOF) spraying on various characteristics of nanostructured WC-12Co coating have been evaluated by an experimental design method. The HVOF sprayed WC-12Co coatings consisted of various carbide phases including WC, and , with a much reduced carbon content. The degree of WC decomposition and decarburization was affected by changing barrel length and spray distance. The hardness of WC-Co coatings was strongly related to droplet temperature at substrate, and increased with increasing fuel addition and/or decreasing spray distance. The effective control of processing parameters was discussed in detail for manufacturing a high performance WC-Co coating.

In this paper, experimental studies of the regrinding of tungsten carbide (WC-Co) tools for high-speed machining were conducted. Regrinding and a subsequent evaluation test were carried out for a flat endmill tool with diameters of 10 mm and 3 mm using a CNC five-axis tool grinder and a CNC three-axis machining center. Tool wear on the two types of endmill tools increased as the cutting length increased, and the tool wear was not influenced by the regrinding state. In case of the micro endmill with a tool diameter of 3 mm, the effective regrinding time was determined for a flank wear threshold of 0.3 mm considering the tool life according to cutting length. The tool lives of the 10 mm and 3 mm endmill tools were increased by 80% and 72%, respectively. This conclusion proves the Feasibility of the recycling of tungsten carbide materials in the high-speed machining of high-hardened materials for industrial applications.

To satisfy the demand of higher cutting performance, mechanical properties with tungsten carbide (WC-Co) tool materials were investigated. Hardness and transverse rupture strength with WC grain size, Co content and density were measured. Compared to H, K, and S manufacture maker as tungsten carbide (WC-Co) tool materials were used for high-speed machining of end-milling operation. The three tungsten carbide (WC-Co) tool materials were evaluated by cutting of STD 11 cold-worked die steel (HRC25) under high-speed cutting condition. Also, tool life was obtained from measuring flank wear by CCD wear measuring system. Tool dynamometer was used to measure cutting force. The cutting force and tool wear are discussed along with tool material characteristics. Consequently, the end-mill of K, H manufacture maker showed higher wear-resistance due to its higher hardness, while the S maker endmill tool showed better performance for high metal removal.

Microstructure and mechanical properties of WC-3wt% Co cemented carbides, fabricated by a sparkplasma sintering (SPS) process, were investigated in this study. The WC-3wt%Co powders were sintered at900~1100oC for 5min under 40MPa in high vacuum. The density and hardness were increased as the sinteringtemperature increased. WC-3wt%Co compacts with a relative density of 97.1% were successfully fabricated at1100oC. The fracture toughness and hardness of a compact sintered at 1100oC were 21.6MPa·m1/2 and4279Hv, respectively.

Ultrafine TiC-5%Co powders were synthesized by spray drying of aqueous solution of TiO slurry and cobalt nitrate, followed by calcination and carbothermal reaction. The oxide powders with carbon powder was reduced and carburized at under hydrogen atmosphere. During reduction, CO gas was mainly evolved by reducing reaction of oxides. Ultrafine TiC-5%Co powders were easily formed by carbothermal reaction at due to using ultrafine powders as raw materials. The ultrafine WC-TiC-Co alloy prepared by sintering of mixed powder of ultrafine WC-13%Co powder and ultrafine TiC-5%Co powder has higher sintered density and mechanical properties than WC-TiC-Co alloy prepared by commercial WC, TiC and Co powders

In the Ti(CN)-Co/Ni cermet, WC is an effective additive for increasing sinterability and mechanical properties such as toughness and hardness. In this work, WC, (WTi)C and (WTi)(CN) were used as the source of WC and their effects were investigated in the respect of microstructural evolution and mechanical properties. Regardless of the kinds of WC sources, the hard phase with dark core and bright rim structure was observed in the Ti(CN)-Co/Ni cermet under the incorporation of relatively small amount of WC. However, hard phases with bright core began to appear and their frequency increased with the increase of all kinds of WC source addition. The ratio of bright core to dark one in the (TiW)(CN)-Co/Ni cermet was greatest under the incorporation of (WTi)C compared at the same equivalent amount of WC. The mechanical properties were improved with the addition of WC irrespective of the kinds of sources, but the addition of (WTi)(CN) was less effective for the increase of fracture toughness.

WC-10Co-0.8VC nanocrystalline powders were sintered by spark plasma sintering (SPS) and hot press sintering (HPS), and the microstructure and properties were compared. Results show that dense WC-10Co-0.8VC can be obtained by SPS in several minutes when the sintering temperature is >1200℃. Sintered at a temperature of 1300℃, the sample prepared by SPS for 3 minutes has higher density, finer grains and better properties than that prepared by HPS for 60 minutes. SPS can be used to prepare nanocrystalline WC-10Co-0.8VC with improved properties when suitable sintering parametesr are chosen.

This paper presents a study of large grains by transmission electron microscopy in two WC-Co alloys, one W rich and one C rich. In the W rich alloy, some large grains are found in contact with the phase. The C content influences the morphology of large grains: they are flatter in the C rich alloy with smoother interfaces. Whatever the C content, they contain few dislocations compared to matrix grains except often in a small area. Small WC grains are often found inside the large grains. They have likely been engulfed during the growth of the large grains owing to the low boundary energy.

Nano-sized WC particles in WC/Co composite powders were synthesized by mechanochemical method. The raw powders and graphite) were mixed by planetary milling for 30 hours. The compositions were WC-10 and -20 wt% Co added VC and . The direct reduction and carburization of the mixed powders were carried at for 1 to 3 hours under flowing Ar gas. The mean size of WC particles in WC/Co composite powders was about 16 nm. The resultant powders were compacted and sintered at for 0.5 hour. After sintering the mean size of WC particles was about 50 nm.