Sintering of the WC-6%Co cemented carbides for improved mechanical and cutting performance using Micro-FAST

Abstract WC-6%Co cemented carbides tools with improved performances were successfully prepared using Micro-FAST method in less than 5 min with a Gleeble-1500D thermal simulation machine. Effects of the sintering temperature and heating rate on the densification, microstructure, mechanical properties were investigated and cutting performance of sintered samples were evaluated. It was found that densification of the samples was enhanced with the increase of the sintering temperature from 900 to 1200 °C while the consolidation process is facilitated with the initial increase of the heating rate to 50 °C/s and retarded with its further increase to 100 °C/s. A relative density of as high as 97.71% and a hardness of 21.7GPa were reached when a sintering temperature of 1200 °C, a heating rate of 50 °C/s and a holding time of 12 min were used. A higher sintering temperature along with a reasonably higher heat rate can produce a denser microstructure while pores remain in the sample when a heating rate higher than 50 °C/s is adopted. The tool prepared by the Micro-FAST exhibits the improved cutting performance than that by the traditional approach. The presented study shows that Micro-FAST can be a potentially very effective way to produce the cutting tools to meet the engineering application.