Fabrication and characterization of ultrafine WC-10CoCrNiCuFe cemented carbides

A new ultra-fine tungsten carbide (WC) cemented carbide was fabricated by spark plasma sintering (SPS), in which the CoCrNiCuFe high entropy alloy (HEA) was used as the binder and was mixed with WC carbide through the mechanical ball milling method. The microstructure of WC-10 wt% HEA composites was investigated through scanning electron microscopy (SEM), high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and differential scanning calorimetry-thermogravimetric analysis (DSC-TG). The results show that the interface characteristics of the WC/HEA system include the FCC(111)//HCP (10 1 over bar 1 ) interface with stable ionic bonds and the interface that reacts due to the formation of the (Fe, Co)3 W3 C phase. The mechanical properties of WC-10 wt% HEA composites were investigated through the Vickers hardness test, friction and wear tests, and compression test. The WC-10 wt% HEA composites exhibit good fracture toughness and hardness of 10.98 MPa m1/2 and 1988.60 HV30 , respectively. The compressive strength at room temperature and 800 degrees C is up to 3307 and 1747 MPa, respectively. The composites exhibited excellent properties attributed to the good wettability of HEA on WC grains and the consequent strengthening effect on the WC/WC interfaces. (c) 2024 Published by Elsevier Ltd on behalf of The editorial office of Journal of Materials Science & Technology.