FABRICATION OF NANOSTRUCTURED WC-BASED HARD MATERIALS WITH DIFFERENT CONTENTS OF Co BY HIGH FREQUENCY INDUCTION HEATED SINTERING

Hard materials, in particular tungsten carbide (WC) hard material has been used in many industries as cutting tool and abrasive materials. For improving toughness, binders are added into carbide materials. The effect of Co as binder on the mechanical properties in the nanosized WC was discussed. The hardness and fracture toughness were also investigated using 30 kgf load Vickers indenter. The nanosized WC-8, 10 and 12 vol.% Co composites were successfully fabricated without grain growth by high frequency induction heated sintering (HFIHS), which is the rapid sintering method, due to short sintering time 1140°C. The nanosized WC–Co composites fabricated by HFIHS have better mechanical properties than WC–Co composite fabricated by commercial sintering.