Abstract
The focus of this paper is on examining the mechanical behavior of spark plasma sintered WC-Co based composites doped with Cr3C2, TaC-NbC, TiC, and VC, as well as defining some parameters characterizing deformation and fracture processes during hardness measurement. The calculated microhardness of WC-Co cemented carbides for all the studied compositions is found to be higher than the results obtained during hardness testing. Therefore, the ratio of the experimental and calculated values of microhardness is shown to be an approximate indication of WC-Co cemented carbide sensitivity to damage processes during indentation. Some parameters characterizing the microstructure–microhardness relationship are defined, and the nanomechanical properties of WC-Co cemented carbide phases are examined in order to separate the deformation and fracture processes during the indentation process. Strain gradient linear function parameters are calculated for 10-cycle nanoindentation. It was found that the nanoindentation curve after 10 cycles shows anomalous behavior of the WC grains, which indicates their fracture processes.
Highlights
Spark Plasma Sintered WC-CoThe unique combination of high mechanical properties, and wear resistance of WC-Co cemented carbides results in their widespread application in cutting tool materials
This resulted in a maximum depth of penetration shown as h, that the Co volume fraction, fCo, is in the range of 10%, whilst the WC grain size varies which was identified by the perpendicular drawn on the depth indentation depth axis
The WC grain size is controlled by cemented carbide alloying with
Summary
Spark Plasma Sintered WC-CoThe unique combination of high mechanical properties (hardness, compression strength), and wear resistance of WC-Co cemented carbides results in their widespread application in cutting tool materials. The main goal of the hardness and nanohardness studies is to establish and evaluate the relationship of the microstructure–properties on the basis of the deformation and fracture processes of the WC-Co composite constitutive phases due to high local contact stresses, strains and temperatures, which result in tool surface wear [2]. From this viewpoint, the examination of indentation induced deformation and the fracture mechanisms of each phase (WC grains and the binder phase) is of great importance [3]
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