Heat treatment changes the structure of the cobalt binder phase and the properties of the WC-Co hardmetals. The higher the cobalt content in the alloy is, the more effective the heat treatment is. The present work has found that the transformation of α-Co to ε-Co can be depressed by quenching the specimens in oil from 1000℃ and hence the transverse rupture strength of these specimens can be increased. During tempering the quenched specimens, new precipitated phases which have dispersion hardening effect on the cobalt binder phase have been observed.
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