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%.

The conversion of all carbon preforms to dense SiC by liquid infiltration can become a low-cost and reliable method to form SiC-Si composites of complex shape and high density. Reactive sintered silicon carbide (RBSC) is prepared by covering Si powder on top of 0.5-5.0 wt% Y2O3-added carbon preforms at 1,450 and 1,500°C for 2 hours; samples are analyzed to determine densification. Reactive sintering from the Y2O3-free carbon preform causes Si to be pushed to one side and cracking defects occur. However, when prepared from the Y2O3-added carbon preform, an SiC-Si composite in which Si is homogeneously distributed in the SiC matrix without cracking can be produced. Using the Si + C = SiC reaction, 3C and 6H of SiC, crystalline Si, and Y2O3 phases are detected by XRD analysis without the appearance of graphite. As the content of Y2O3 in the carbon preform increases, the prepared RBSC accelerates the SiC conversion reaction, increasing the density and decreasing the pores, resulting in densification. The dense RBSC obtained by reaction sintering at 1,500 oC for 2 hours from a carbon preform with 2.0 wt% Y2O3 added has 0.20% apparent porosity and 96.9% relative density.

In this study, we investigated the effect of the residual carbides and tempered carbides precipitated by tempering treatment after quenching on the pitting corrosion of mod. 440A martensitic stainless steel. In quenched specimens and tempered specimens after quenching of mod. 440A martensitic stainless steel, the volume fraction of the residual carbides and total carbides decreased with the increase of the austenitizing temperature. Pitting resistance increased with the increase of austenitizing temperature. With the increase of the volume fraction of the residual and total carbides, the pitting resistance of mod. 440A martensitic stainless steel was decreased. The pitting resistance of mod. 0.5C-17Cr-0.5Ni 440A martensitic stainless steel had stronger affected by residual carbides than precipitated carbides produced by tempering.

In this study, mechanical tests and microstructural analyses including TEM analyses with EDX of precipitates in modified 9Cr-1Mo steel were carried out to determine the cause of embrittlement observed after heat-treatment, which limits the usage of the alloy for power plants. Mod. 9Cr-1Mo steel specimens at austenite temperature were quenched to the molten salt baths at 760˚C and 700˚C, in which the specimens were kept for 10 min ~ 10 hr with subsequent air-cooling. Impact tests showed that the impact value dropped abruptly when the specimens were kept longer than 30 min at ~760˚C reaching to minima in about 1 hr, and then increasing at further retention. The tensile strength of the specimens reached the minimum value without much change afterward, whereas the values of elongation showed the same trend as that of the impact value. The isothermally heat-treated steel at 700˚C also showed a minimum impact value in about 1 hr. These results suggest that the isothermal heattreatment at 760 and 700˚C for about 1 hr induces temporal embrittlement in Mod. 9Cr-1Mo steel. The microstructural examination of all the specimens with extraction replica of the carbides revealed that the specimens with temporal embrittlement had Cr2C, indicating that the cause of the embrittlement was the precipitation of the Cr2C. In addition, TEM/EDX results showed that the Fe/Cr ratio was 0.033 to 0.055 for Cr2C, whereas it was 0.48 to 0.75 for Cr23C6, making the distinction of the Cr2C and Cr23C6 possible even without direct electron diffraction analyses.

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 microstructure and hardness of (W,Ti)C cemented carbides with a different metallic binder composition of Ni and Co fabricated by powder technology were investigated. The densifications of the prepared materials were accomplished by using vacuum sintering at . Nearly full dense (W,Ti)C cemented carbides were obtained with a relative density of up to 99.7% with 30 wt.% Co and 99.9% with 30 wt.% Ni as a metallic binder. The average grain size of the (W,Ti)C-Co and the (W,Ti)C-Ni was decreased by increasing the metallic binder content. The hardness of the dense (W,Ti)C-15 wt%Co and (W,Ti)C-15 wt%Ni, was greater than that of the other related cemented carbides; in addition, the cobalt-based cemented carbides had greater hardness values than the nickel-based cemented carbides.

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.

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.

The present study investigates the behavior of the sintering and hardness of stainless steel samples reinforced with NbC and TaC. Matrixes of pure stainless steel were compacted with addition of up to 3% wt NbC or TaC in a cylindrical die of steel at 700 MPa and sintered in an electrical resistance furnace under argon atmosphere. The sintered samples were characterized by density and hardness measurement, optical microscopy and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The preliminary results show that the size and distribution of carbides influence in the sintering and hardness of the sintered samples.

The plastic deformation behavior of cemented carbides is related to the WC grain boundary strength. Ab initio calculations predict that Co and Mn segregate to WC/WC grain boundaries. To experimentally study the effect of Mn, a WC-Co-Mn material was manufactured and compared to a WC-Co material. The microstructure was studied using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), including electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD). Special attention was paid to the WC grain size and the frequency of special low-energy grain boundaries. Mn was found to have negligible effect on both the WC grain growth and the fraction of WC/WC boundaries in the as-sintered material.

The solubility of Cr in cubic carbides in the systems WC-Co-TaC and WC-Co-ZrC has been determined using equilibrium samples. Thermodynamic calculations were used to design the alloys through extrapolations of Gibbs energy expressions. The alloys were designed to have a microstructure containing the following phases: WC, liquid, , graphite and cubic carbide. The alloys were investigated using scanning electron microscopy and analyzed using energy-dispersive X-ray spectrometry. The present work shows how the Cr solubility depends on which cubic carbide former that is present. The WC-Co-Cr-Zr alloy has no detectable amount of Cr whereas the WC-Co-Cr-Ta alloy has 12% Cr in the cubic carbide.

During sintering of cemented carbides abnormal grain growth is often observed but cannot be understood from the classical LSW-theory. A model based on 2-D nucleation of new crystalline layers and a grain-size distribution function is formulated and the equations are solved numerically. Experimental studies and computer simulations show that the initial grain size distribution has a strong effect on the grain growth behavior. For example, a fine-grained powder can grow past a coarser powder.

The driving forces and the probable processes of WC-Co grain growth are reanalysed from recent data of interface energy and microstructure. Grain growth is driven by the disappearing of the high energy WC/WC and WC/Co interfaces with habit planes different from {0001}, and facets and by the area decrease of the WC/WC and WC/Co interfaces with {0001} and habit planes. Grain growth mainly results of dissolution-precipitation. Abnormal grains are likely formed by defects assisted nucleation.