Micropenetração instrumentada em compósitos de matrizmetálica à base de tungstênio empregados em coroas deperfuração utilizadas em sondagem mineral

摘要

This work intends to evaluate a possible relationship between the mechanical properties calculated from instrumented microindentation data and the microabrasive wear behavior of infiltrated tungsten (W) composites used in impregnated diamond bits for rock drilling. Specimens of brass-infiltrated W composites were sintered with combinations of different W particle sizes, and additions of alloys based on other elements, as well as additions of secondary abrasives. After metallographic preparation, the specimens were analyzed in an instrumented microindenter with a Vickers indenter. All phases were indented with a load of 30 mN, except the silicon carbide, with a load of 250 mN. The indentation curves allowed the calculation of microhardness and Young s modulus for each phase. Those results were compared with dimensional microabrasive wear coefficients obtained in a previous work, by testing microabrasion with abrasive slurries based on silicon carbide, silica and hematite, performed with Calower equipment. It was observed a decrease in microhardness as the tungsten grains size increase. For the SiC abrasive slurry, a decrease in microabrasive wear coefficient followed the decrease in tungsten microhardness. The opposite was observed with the SiO2 slurry, whereas, for the Fe2O3 slurry, no clear correlation was obtained. It is also important to say that the effect of infiltrated brass (binder phase) hardness became more significant in the tests with the SiO2 and Fe2O3 slurries. When the alloys based on other elements are added, to the SiC abrasive, the increase of the brass plasticity increases its wear, because the plastic deformations are increased, taking into account the very high Habr./Hphase relation. The plasticity of the W phase seems not to interfere in wear. The opposite is true for the SiO2 abrasive. For both abrasives, the copper added increases the "soft" phase volumetrical fraction, providing an additional wear. For the Fe2O3 abrasive, the increase in the brass plasticity increases the wear coefficient, since it leads to larger indentations, i. e., to larger plastic deformations. Depending on the abrasive type, the observed mechanisms were grooving and particles rolling (multiple indentations), besides the occurrence of both simultaneously, although, dissociated