Spark Plasma Sintering of WC-Based 10wt%Co Hard Alloy: A Study of Sintering Kinetics and Solid-Phase Processes

Anastasia A Buravleva; Alexander N Fedorets; Anastasia A Vornovskikh; Alexey V Ognev; Valeria A Nepomnyushchaya; Vladimir N Sakhnevich; Aleksey O Lembikov; Zlata E Kornakova; Olesya V Kapustina; Anna E Tarabanova; Victor P Reva; Igor Yu Buravlev

doi:10.3390/ma15031091

Spark Plasma Sintering of WC-Based 10wt%Co Hard Alloy: A Study of Sintering Kinetics and Solid-Phase Processes

Materials (Basel). 2022 Jan 30;15(3):1091. doi: 10.3390/ma15031091.

Affiliations

¹ Far Eastern Federal University, 10 Ajax Bay, Russky Island, 690922 Vladivostok, Russia.
² Laboratory of Spin-Orbitronics, Institute of High Technologies and Advanced Materials, Far Eastern Federal University, 690922 Vladivostok, Russia.

Abstract

The paper describes the method for producing WC-10wt%Co hard alloy with 99.6% of the theoretical density and a Vickers hardness of ~1400 HV 0.5. Experimental data on densification dynamics, phase composition, morphology, mechanical properties, and grain size distribution of WC-10%wtCo using spark plasma sintering (SPS) within the range of 1000-1200 °C are presented. The high quality of the product is provided by the advanced method of high-speed powder mixture SPS-consolidation at achieving a high degree of densification with minimal calculated grain growth at 1200 °C.

Keywords: WC-Co; grain size; hard metal alloy; spark plasma sintering (SPS); tungsten carbide (WC).