Case studies

• Experimental investigation of the binder hardness in alternative WC-Ni cemented carbide systems
• Consideration of the 3D binder morphology exposing the indents with focused ion beam (FIB) cross-sections
• Investigation of the confinement effect on the soft binder phase by the surrounding WC hard phase

Alternative Ni-based cemented carbide binder – Hardness characterization by nano-indentation and and focused ion beam

• We investigate the effect of carbon activity on the coarsening of WC and the final microstructure after sintering.
• The average WC grain size increases with increasing carbon activity during sintering.
• A widening of the homogeneous size distribution with increasing carbon activity was indicated.
• A shape change of WC grains was seen with triangular shapes with planar surface structures at a higher carbon activity.

Microstructure, grain size distribution and grain shape in WC–Co alloys sintered at different carbon activities