Tungsten carbide decarburization by electrical discharges

摘要

Electrospark deposition (ESD) was employed to clad WC-10%Co hard alloy on steel 1035. The tribological properties of the coatings obtained were examined. The influence of the duration and frequency of discharges, nature of the environment, and carbon concentration in the electrode materials on the decarburization of tungsten carbide was studied. It is shown that the degree of tungsten carbide degradation can be reduced by decreasing the discharge frequency and increasing the concentration of carbon in the WC-Co electrode materials and also that the WC decarburization reaction is reversible on annealing.