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Influence of Grain Refinement on Microstructure and Mechanical Properties of Tungsten Carbide/Zirconia Nanocomposites

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Abstract

WC-W2C/ZrO2 nanocomposites were synthesized by pressure-less sintering (PS) and spark plasma sintering (SPS) of tungsten carbide/yttria-stabilized tetragonal zirconia, WC/TZ-3Y. Prior to sintering, WC/TZ-3Y powders were totally ball-milled for 20 and 120 h to obtain targeted nano (N) and nano-nano (N-N) structures, indicated by transmission electron microscopy and powder x-ray diffraction (PXRD). The milled powders were processed via PS at temperatures of 1773 and 1973 K for 70 min and SPS at 1773 K for 10 min. PXRD as well as SEM-EDS indicated the formation of WC-W2C/ZrO2 composites after sintering. The mechanical properties were characterized via Vicker microhardness and nanoindentation techniques indicating enhancements for sufficiently consolidated composites with high W2C content. The effects of reducing particle sizes on phase transformation, microstructure and mechanical properties are reported. In general, the composites based on the N structure showed higher microhardness than those for N-N structure, except for the samples PS-sintered at 1773 K. For instance, after SPS at 1773 K, the N structure showed a microhardness of 18.24 GPa. Nanoindentation measurements revealed that nanoscale hardness up to 22.33 and 25.34 GPa and modulus of elasticity up to 340 and 560 GPa can be obtained for WC-W2C/ZrO2 nanocomposites synthesized by the low-cost PS at 1973 K and by SPS at 1773 K, respectively.

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Acknowledgment

This work is supported by Egypt-Japan University of Science and Technology (EJUST). The authors are grateful to Prof. H. Nakamura from the Department of Material Science and Engineering, Kyoto University, for his support in samples preparation and characterization. Prof. K. Shinagawa and Prof. Y. Tanaka from the Faculty of Engineering, Kagawa University, are acknowledged for electron diffraction facilities and fruitful discussion in the microstructure analysis. M.A.K. and A.N. would like to thank the Ministry of Higher Education (MOHE) of Egypt for the financial support during their study.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Materials Science and Engineering Department, Egypt-Japan University of Science and Technology, P.O. Box 179, New Borg El Arab City, Alexandria, 21934, Egypt

    Ali Nasser, Mohamed A. Gepreel & Ahmed A. Moniem

  2. Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Kyoto University, Kyoto, 606-8501, Japan

    Mohamed A. Kassem

  3. Department of Physics, Assiut University, Assiut, 71515, Egypt

    Mohamed A. Kassem

  4. Powder Technology Department, Central Metallurgical R&D Institute, Cairo, 11421, Egypt

    Ayman Elsayed

  5. Physical Chemistry Department, National Research Center (NRC), Dokki, Cairo, 12622, Egypt

    Ahmed A. Moniem

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  1. Ali Nasser
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Correspondence to Mohamed A. Kassem.

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Nasser, A., Kassem, M.A., Elsayed, A. et al. Influence of Grain Refinement on Microstructure and Mechanical Properties of Tungsten Carbide/Zirconia Nanocomposites. J. of Materi Eng and Perform 25, 5065–5075 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11665-016-2341-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11665-016-2341-8

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