PCAS 공정으로 제조된 WC-5wt.%TiC 소결체의 극저온처리 효과

Abstract

The WC-5wt.% TiC compacts, which was fabricated by pulsed current activated sintering process (PCAS), were cryogenically treated to improve the mechanical performance. The densely consolidated specimens were exposed to liquid nitrogen for 6, 12, and 24 h. All cryogenically treated samples exhibited compressive stress in the sintered body compared with the untreated sample. The cryogenically treated samples exhibited significant improvement in mechanical properties, with a 9% increase in Vickers hardness and a 52.6% decrease in the fracture toughness compared with the untreated samples. However, excessive treatment of over 12 h deteriorates the mechanical properties due to tensile stress in the specimens. Therefore, the cryogenic treatment time should be controlled precisely to obtain mechanically enhanced hard materials.