Sajjad Jameel Ibrahim Al Safawee, Ali Rasooli, Taher Rabizadeh,
Volume 21, Issue 0 (3-2024)
Abstract
There is a global need to develop engineering materials to address the increasing demands in various industries. Spark plasma sintering (SPS) is one of the most distinguished powder metallurgy techniques, offering the opportunity for the fabrication of different types of materials. This work emphasizes optimizations of the important process parameters, including temperature, pressure, and holding time, involved in the SPS of the WC, WC-Co, and WC-Cr, as well as assessing the influence of the content of the Co (6-24 wt.%) and Cr (0.2-1 wt.%) binders on the overall characteristics of the SPS-ed cermets. The results illustrate that the process parameters highly affect the physicomechanical properties of the SPS-ed WC, where the most appropriate conditions from a physicomechanical viewpoint are obtained at a sintering temperature of 1700 °C, a pressure of 80 MPa, and a holding time of 5 min. The included Co binder reduces the optimum temperature and pressure down to 1200 °C and 70 MPa, respectively. The addition of the Co improves the final properties of the WC irrespective of its content. The highest tribomechanical properties are attained when 18 wt. % of Co is added. Similar to that of Co, the incorporation of Cr into the WC increases the tribomechanical performance. In general, the use of Co and Cr metallic binders seems a useful strategy to promote the overall properties of the SPS-ed WC.
