Performance of carbide composites for cyclic loading applications

The present study attempts to give deeper insight into the surface damage process of carbide composites such as WC hardmetals and TiC-based cermets in the blanking of sheet metals (in cyclic loading conditions). In addition, it focuses on the relationships between the blanking performance of composites on the one hand and the structure-composition and properties wear resistance, plasticity, fatigue strength on the other hand. The influence of advanced sintering techniques on the performance of carbide composites is estimated. A set of laboratory (abrasive wear, adhesive wear, strength, fatigue) and functional tests (blanking of sheet metals) were performed and the effect of advanced sintering techniques (sinter/HIP) on the properties and microstructure developments during testing was analysed by SEM and XRD.