A streamlined life cycle assessment on the fabrication of WC–Co cermets

Abstract

Tungsten carbide–cobalt (WC–Co) cermets have been widely used because of their high hardness and excellent wear-resistant properties. In this study, the environmental burdens related to WC–Co component fabrication were evaluated to compare the Laser Engineered Net Shaping (LENS ®) process and the conventional powder metallurgy (P/M) process. Sensitivity analysis revealed that choice of weighting scheme does not significantly affect the final result; the LENS ® process is more preferable if powder recycling is applied, part size is small, or part shape is complex; and the P/M process provides more benefits to produce large parts of simple shape.