Ultrafine WC-Ni cemented carbides fabricated by spark plasma sintering

摘要

With VC and TaC as WC grain growth inhibitors, ultrafine WC-Ni cemented carbides with different fractions (6-10 wt%) of binder metal nickel were fabricated by utilizing high energy milling together with spark plasma sintering. In the obtained samples, only WC and Ni phases were detected in X-ray diffraction limit. The microstructure of the specimens was examined on fractural, polished, and polished/etched surfaces by scanning electron microscopy, and the results revealed that the average WC grain size of the WC-Ni cemented carbides was about 330 nm, and there were lots of micro-pores in the samples. The relative density of the samples was all higher than 92%. But the measurement of hardness and flexural strength indicated that the existence of micro-pores had no significant influence on the performance of the obtained materials. On the basis of observation on the micro-fracture surface of the samples, it was found that fractures occurred along the binder metal, and the obtained ultrafine WC-Ni cemented carbides showed a very short binder mean free path (about 22 nm), thus resulting in excellent performance in mechanical strength.