Advanced hardmetal manufacture in the 1950s: a personal memoir

摘要

2011 marks the sixtieth anniversary of the author's engagement with the hardmetal industry. The company at which he was responsible for research and technical innovation developed in the 1950s a complete range of submicron hardmetal grades (including special alloys for machining superalloys) with chromium-carbide grain-growth inhibition; higher-alloyed, extra-tough, heat-resistant, solid-solution carbides; consistently super-dry hydrogen to minimise grain growth; nanosize cobalt to eliminate binder lakes in sintered hardmetal; and a special-purpose grade with 7% cobalt and 2250 HV (94.1 HRA) hardness. In the lab, examples were chemical colour-etching to replace outdated Murakami reagent, enhanced Vickers hardness testing to improve accuracy, and subjective toughness measurement in production control.