Small-scale mechanical response at intermediate/high temperature of 3D printed WC-Co

Abstract

The present work is focused on WC-Co dry-electropolished. A systematic nanomechanical study of a 3D printed WC-Co grade is investigated. In doing so, nanoindentation technique is implemented and the main deformation/damage mechanisms induced at the submicrometric length scale are investigated at different temperatures, from room up to 600 ºC. In general, three different approaches are followed to accomplish this research: (1) assessment of intrinsic hardness values as a function of crystallographic orientation from a room temperature up to 600 ºC and (2) the determination of effective hardness and flow stress through the Tabor’s equation of the metal cobalt binder. Finally, the elastic strain to break was also determined for the main crystallographic orientations for the WC particles as a function of the temperature. The preliminary results highlight that the strength reduction with increasing temperature is attributed to metallic binder softening. On the other hand, the WC particles presents an isotropic behavior when the testing temperature is over 500 ºC because, to inside these particles, the dislocations and the stacking faults are the main deformation mechanisms induced at intermediate/high testing temperature.