Electrochemical polarisation tests were carried out on three grades of WC-Co cemented carbides to investigate the corrosive behaviour of the hardmetals and rank them as viable protective liners for chutes and skips in the mining industry. The cobalt binder content and WC particle size varied. The binder content ranged from 6-12 wt%, and the grain size of the WC particles ranged from 0.4-2.3 µm. The performance of the WC-Co hardmetal was compared to three different grades of high chromium white cast irons and Hadfield steel. The cast irons varied in both their chromium content and the morphology of the Cr-rich primary carbides. Potentiodynamic polarisation and linear polarization resistance scans were used to determine the corrosion current density and other electrochemical parameters. The microstructural characteristics of the samples were analysed using Scanning Electron Microscope(SEM) with Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy (EDS), and optical microscopy. The potentiodynamic scans revealed that, although the WC-Co alloys were found to have generally improved corrosion resistance, it was the high-Cr white cast iron (22 wt% Cr) that recorded the lowest corrosion current density and therefore displayed the best resistance against corrosive attack in 1 M H2SO4. The Hadfield steel exhibited the poorest resistance to corrosion and therefore, suffered the most degradation to its exposed surface.
Keywords: High-Cr white cast irons (HCWCI); WC-Co alloys; hadfield steel; mining industry; tribocorrosion.