Fabrication of WC-Co/(Ti, W)C graded cemented carbide by spark plasma sintering

Abstract The WC-Co/(Ti, W)C graded cemented carbide was prepared by spark plasma sintering. The substrate is WC-8Co, and the hard layer is (Ti, W)C solid-solution. The effects of sintering temperature and holding time on the microstructure and properties of graded cemented carbide were analyzed. The hard layer is mainly formed by dissolving WC in the Co-phase and then by solid-solution reaction with TiC. As the sintering temperature increases, the migration rate of WC increases. When the holding time is 5 min, the thickness and the W content of the (Ti, W)C solid-solution hard layer increases with the increasing of sintering temperature. The thickness of the (Ti, W)C solid-solution can reach 51 ± 2 μm at the sintering temperature of 1700 °C for the holding time of 5 min. The hardness of hard layer surface increases first and then decreases with the increasing of sintering temperature. The Vickers hardness is the highest at 1600 °C, which can reach HV0.221.53GPa. As the holding time increases, the thickness of the solid-solution hard layer increases, but the rate of growth decreases. As the thickness increases, the difference in the W element concentration between the solid-solutions of the same pitch decreases along the layer depth direction, and W element concentration in the entire hard layer increases. The oxidation behavior of graded cemented carbide at 400 °C and 600 °C was investigated. The (Ti, W)C hard layer has superior oxidation resistance relative to the WC-Co substrate.