Studying the influence of the energy parameters of the plasma dynamic synthesis process on the dispersed products of the W–C system

Abstract

Tungsten carbide and its different crystalline phases are widely used for production of metalworking tools due to their excellent physical and mechanical characteristics. However, there is still a problem of synthesizing the cubic modification of tungsten carbide. This paper demonstrates the results on studying the influence of the energy parameters of the plasma dynamic synthesis process on the dispersed products of the W–C system. It was revealed that the initial energy parameters directly influence the phase composition of synthesized products. There were found the optimal conditions for synthesizing the dispersed products from the standpoint of the high output of cubic tungsten carbide phase (more than 85 wt.%). According to transmission electron microscopy data, all the products are characterized by the presence of particles with a core-shell structure embedded into the amorphous carbon matrix.