Abstract
The studies on the densification of WC-Co alloys in solid-phase sintering are analyzed. It is shown that solid-phase sintering of alloys with tungsten carbide particles smaller than 2.0 µm is characterized by high densification (shrinkage) and results in compact samples in some cases. Shrinkage is established to be nonmonotonic over a wide range of sintering temperatures. There are at least three different stages of densification over the range from room to solidus temperatures. Approximate temperature ranges for densification stages are 100 to 1050 °C, 1050 to 1200 °C, and 1200 °C to the eutectic melting temperature. The stages mainly differ in the extent and rate of shrinkage and in the activation energy. The compaction stages are separated by characteristic temperatures. The most important is 1200 °C, which separates the second and the third stages. The maximum rate of shrinkage is observed mostly at this temperature. The variation of initial WC particles from 5 to 2000 nm does not significantly affect the temperature at which the solid-phase shrinkage rate is maximum. In most cases, there are two maximum rates of shrinkage in WC-Co sintering: one at 1200 ± 30 °C and the other at the solidus temperature.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
G. E. Spriggs, “A history of fine grained hardmetal,” Int. J. Refractory Metals & Hard Materials, 13, No. 5, 241–255 (1995).
W. D. Schubert, A. Bock, and B. Lux, “General aspects and limits of conventional ultrafine WC powder manufacture and hard metal production,” in: Proc. 13th Int. Plansee Seminar, H. Bildstein and R. Eck (eds.), Vol. 4, Metallwerk Plansee, Reutte (1993), pp. 283–305.
L. E. Mc Candlish, B. H. Kear, and B. K. Kim, “Chemical processing of nanophase WC-Co composite powders,” Mater. Sci. Techn., 6, No. 10, 953–957 (1990).
V. I. Tretyakov, Fundamentals of Physical Metallurgy and Production Technology of Hard Sintered Alloys [in Russian], Metallurgy, Moscow (1976), p. 528.
M. M. Babich, Nonuniform Carbon Content in Hard Alloys and Its Homogenization [in Russian], Naukova Dumka, Kiev (1975), p. 176.
R. F. Snowball and D. R. Milner, “Densification processes in the tungsten carbide-cobalt system,” Powder Metallurgy, 11, No. 21, 23–40 (1968).
J. Gurland and D. J. Norton, J. Metals, 4, No. 10, 1051–1056 (1952).
I. N. Chaporova and K. S. Chernyavskii, Structure of Hard Sintered Alloys [in Russian], Metallurgy, Moscow (1975), p. 248.
S. Roure and J. M. Missiaen, “Macroscopic and microstructural evolution of WC-Co compacts during solid state sintering,” in: Proc. Euro PM’96, Stockholm (1986), pp. 77–84.
S. Haglund, B. Uhrenius, and J. Agren, “Solid state sintering of WC-Co,” in: Proc. PM’94, Powder Metallurgy World Congress (June 6–9, 1994), Vol. 2, Paris (1994), pp. 1493–1496.
S. Haglund, J. Agren, and B. Uhrenius, “Solid state sintering of cemented carbides — an experimental study,” Z. Metallk., 89, No. 5, 316–322 (1998).
S. M. Missiaen and S. Roure, “A general morphological approach of sintering kinetics: application to WC-Co solid phase sintering,” Acta Mater., 46, No. 11, 3985–3993 (1998).
G. Leitner, T. Gestrich, and G. Gille, “Shrinkage, liquid phase formation and gaseous reactions during sintering of WC-Co hardmetals and correlation to the WC grain size,” in: Proc. 14th Int. Plansee Seminar (May 12–16, 1997), Vol. 2, Reutte, Tirol (1997), pp. 86–99.
G. Gille, B. Szesny, and G. Leitner, “A new 0.4 µm WC powder as well as powder-related properties and sintering behavior of 0.6 to 30 µm WC-Co hardmetals,” in: Proc. 14th Int. Plansee Seminar (May 12–16, 1997), Reutte, Tirol (1997), pp. 139–167.
R. Porat, S. Berger, and A. Rosen, “Synthesis and processing of nanocrystalline WC-Co powders,” in: Proc. 14th Int. Plansee Seminar (May 12–16, 1997), Reutte, Tirol (1997), pp. 582–595.
L. E. Mc Candlish, B. H. Kear, and B. K. Kim, “Carbothermic reaction process for making nanophase WC-Co powders,” Pat. No. 5230729 USA, Publ. July 27, 1993.
G. Gille, B. Szesny, K. Dreyer, et al., “Submicron and ultrafine grained hardmetal for microdrills and metal cutting insert,” in: Proc. 15th Int. Plansee Seminar (May 28–June 1, 2001), Vol. 2, Reutte (2001), pp. 782–816.
A. V. Laptev, “Solid-state consolidation of WC-Co hardmetals. Peculiarities and prospects,” in: Science for Materials in the Frontier of Centuries: Advantages and Challenges: Proc. Int. Conf. (November 4–8, 2002), Vol. 2, Kyiv (2002), pp. 491–492.
O. Lavergne, F. Hodaj, and C. H. Allibert, “Solid state dissolution behavior of WC in Co binder,” in: Proc. Euro PM’96, Stockholm (1986), pp. 153–158.
V. V. Skorokhod and S. M. Solonin, Fundamental Physics and Metallurgy of Powder Sintering [in Russian], Metallurgy, Moscow (1984), p. 158.
G. Chavdarov and N. Rasskazov, “Compaction of WC-Co hard alloys in hot pressing without a liquid phase, ” Annual of the Nonferrous Metallurgy Institute, 21, 110–116 (1983).
N. Tsuchiya, M. Fukuda, T. Nakai, and H. Suzuki, “Some properties of WC-Co alloy prepared by solid-phase sintering,” J. Jap. Soc. Powder and Powder Metall., 37, No. 8, 1177–1180 (1990).
J. Azcona, A. Ordonez, L. Dominguez, et al., “Hot isostatic pressing of nanosized WC-Co Hardmetals, ” in: Proc. 15th Int. Plansee Seminar, Vol. 2, Reutte (2001), pp. 35–49.
A. V. Laptev, S. S. Ponomarev, and L. F. Ochkas, “Structural features and properties of alloy 84% WC-16% Co obtained by hot pressing in the solid and liquid phases. Part 1. Effect of the temperature at which the specimens are prepared on their density and structure,” Powder Metall. Met. Ceram., 39, No. 11–12, 607–617 (2000).
A. V. Laptev, S. S. Ponomarev, and L. F. Ochkas, “Solid phase consolidation fine grained WC-16 wt.% Co hard metals,” J. Advan. Mat., 33, No. 3, 42–51 (2001).
A. V. Laptev, S. S. Ponomarev, and L. F. Ochkas, “Study of possibility of solid phase producing porousless WC-26% Co hard metal at high energy pressing,” in: Proc. EURO PM’99, Conf. on Advances in Hard Materials Production (November 8–10, 1999), Turin, Italy (1999), pp. 205–212.
V. M. Dotsenko, A. R. Kryuchkova, V. L. Ishchuk, et al., “Some properties and structural features of hard alloys produced under high pressures,” in: Effect of High Pressure on Matter [in Russian], Naukova Dumka, Kiev (1978), pp. 91–94.
A. K. Butylenko and V. N. Sokolovskii, “Densification of tungsten and titanium carbides and their mixtures with nickel during heating under high pressure,” Powder Metall. Met. Ceram., 20, No. 7, 466–469 (1981).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
__________
Translated from Poroshkovaya Metallurgiya, Vol. 46, No. 7–8 (456), pp. 8–18, 2007.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Laptev, A.V. Theory and technology of sintering, thermal and chemicothermal treatment. Powder Metall Met Ceram 46, 317–324 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11106-007-0051-3
Received:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11106-007-0051-3