• Proceedings of the Korean Powder Metallurgy Institute Conference
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• 2006.09a
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• pp.646-647
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• 2006

Nano-sized WC particles in WC/Co composite powders were synthesized by mechanochemical method. The raw powders$(WO_3,\;Co_3O_4,\;VC,\;Cr_3C_2$ and graphite) were mixed by planetary milling for 30 hours. The compositions were WC-10 and -20 wt% Co added VC and $Cr_3C_2$. The direct reduction and carburization of the mixed powders were carried at $900\;^{\circ}C$ for 1 to 3 hours under flowing Ar gas. The mean size of WC particles in WC/Co composite powders was about 16 nm. The resultant powders were compacted and sintered at $1300{\sim}1360\;^{\circ}C$ for 0.5 hour. After sintering the mean size of WC particles was about 50 nm.

• Journal of Welding and Joining
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• v.18 no.6
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• pp.102-107
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• 2000

It was attempted to improve the wear resistance of Al alloy under the load condition by making a formation of the thick surface hardening alloy layers. The thick surface hardening alloy layers were formed on 6061 Al alloys overlayed by MIG welding process with WC-12%Co powder addition. Effects of the dispersion of WE-12%Co powders on hardness and wear characteristics of alloys were investigated. The following results were obtained. Most of WE-12%Co powders are dispersed nearly uniform as unmelted particles in the matrix alloy. A part of WC-12%Co powders are melted in the molten pool, and during solidification {TEX}$Al_{9}Co_{2}${/TEX} appeared. With increasing addition of WC-12%Co powders, the hardness and specific wear resistance of the overlay weld alloys increased and reached Hv450 at WC-12%Co powder addition rate of 54g/min. It is considered that excellent wear resistance of the overlayed alloys was due to dispersed WC-12%Co powders and increased 10 times at WC-12%Co powder addition rate of 54 g/min than that of the WC-free overlaying layers.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.31 no.7
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• pp.397-402
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• 2021

In this study, binderless-WC, WC-6 wt%Co, WC-6wt% 1 and 2.5 B₄C materials are fabricated by spark plasma sintering process (SPS process). Each fabricated WC material is almost completely dense, with a relative density up to 99.5 % after the simultaneous application of pressure of 60 MPa. The WC added Co and Co-B₄C materials resulted in crystalline growth. The WC with HCP crystal structure has respective interfacial energy (basal facet direction: 1.07 ~ 1.34 J·m^-2, prismatic direction: 1.43 ~ 3.02 J·m^-2) that depends on the grain growth direction. It is confirmed that the continuous grain growth, biased by the basal facet, which has relatively low energy, is promoted at the WC/Co interface. As abnormal grain growth takes place, the grain size increases more than twice from 0.37 to 0.8 um. It is found through analysis that the hardness property also greatly decreases from about 2661.4 to 1721.4 kg/mm², along with the grain growth.

• Resources Recycling
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• v.31 no.4
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• pp.19-25
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• 2022

In this study, tungsten carbide (WC) powder was prepared using a novel recycling process for hard metal sludge that does not use ammonium paratungstate. Instead of ammonia, acid was used to remove the sodium and crystallized tungstate, resulting in the formation of tungstic acid (H₂WO₄). The WC powder was successfully synthesized by the carbothermal reduction of tungstic acid through H₂O decomposition, reduction of WO₃ to W, and formation of WC. The carbon content and holding time at the carbothermal reduction temperature were optimized to remove free carbon from the WC powder. As a result, most of the free carbon in the WC powder prepared from sludge was removed, and the content of free carbon in the synthesized WC powder was lower than that in commercial WC powder. Moreover, the crystallite size of WC prepared from H₂WO₄ was much smaller than that of commercial micron-sized WC powder produced from APT. The small crystallite size of WC induces grain growth during the sintering of the WC-Co composite; thus, a WC-Co composite with large WC grains was fabricated using the WC powder prepared from H₂WO₄. The large WC grains affected the mechanical properties of the WC-Co composite. Further, due to the large grain size, the WC-Co composite fabricated from H₂WO₄ exhibited a higher toughness than that of the WC-Co composite prepared from commercial WC powder.

• Journal of Powder Materials
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• v.6 no.4
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• pp.307-313
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• 1999

The effect of carbon content on the shape of WC grains dispersed in the Co-rich matrix during liquid phase sintering of WC-35%Co hard metals has been determined. The shape of WC grains was observed using SEM stereography after removing cobalt matrix with boiling hydrochloric acid solution. The WC grains changed from hexagonal to trigonal prism as the carbon content increased in the two-phase region of(WC + $\beta$ - Co), while the morphology of WC grains changed from trigonal to hexagonal shape as the carbon content decreased. The morphology of WC grains changes reversibly along with carbon loss or carbon pick-up. Morphology change of WC grains is attributed to crystal structure of WC, which has an asymmetric array of carbon atoms. There are two types of prismatic planes having different numbers of broken W-C bonds in WC grains. It is scrutinized that as the carbon content increases, the high energy prism planes grow fast and the crystals change from hexagonal to trigonal shape. On the other hand, when the carbon content decreases, the high energy prism planes are dissolved accompanying split of (100) plane into (101) and (101) planes.

• Journal of the Korean institute of surface engineering
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• v.39 no.3
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• pp.115-120
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• 2006

The codeposition behavior of WC particles from an additive-free nickel sulfate and sulfamate solution has been investigated. Electroplating of Ni/WC composites was carried out at different current density with variation of WC particle size. The Guglielmi adsorption mechanism is applied to the electroplating of the fine WC in Ni matrix. The contents of WC in Ni composite coating were increased both by increasing current density and WC concentration in the bath. The hardness of Ni/WC composite coating at low current density is higher than that at high current density since finer WC particles dispersed through the coating. The codeposition behaviors of Co coated WC particles were also investigated. Conducting layer of particles promoted the codeposition behavior of Ni/WC-Co composite coatings.

• Proceedings of the Korean Ceranic Society Conference
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• 2004.10a
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• pp.88.1-88.1
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• 2004

• Journal of Powder Materials
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.108-117
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• 2003

WC and dense WC-10 vol%Co materials with grain size of~1${\mu}m$ were synthesized by high-frequency induction heated combustion synthesis (HFIHCS) method in one step from elemental powders of W, C and Co within several minutes. Simultaneous combustion synthesis and densification were accomplished under the combined effects of an induced current and mechanical pressure. In the absence of cobalt additive, WC can be formed, but its relative density was low (about 73%) under simultaneous application of a 60 MPa pressure and the induced current. However, in the presence of 10 vol.%Co, the relative density increased to 99% under the same experimental condition. The percentages of the total shrinkage occurring before and during the synthesis reaction of WC-10 vol.%Co were 5% and 51%, respectively. The fracture toughness and hardness values of WC-10 vol.%Co were 10 MPa . m$^{1/2}$ and 1840 kg/$mm^2$, respectively.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2013.02a
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• pp.255-255
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• 2013

WC-Co 초경합금은 실온경도, 고온경도, 강도, 내마모, 내충격 등 기계적 특성이 우수하여 공구재료, 절삭공구 및 고압용 부품 등 다양한 응용분야를 가지고 있으며 WC-Co 분말 코팅같은 경우 항공분야, 일반 공업 분야에 내마모 특성 및 내열특성 향상을 위한 코팅용 소재로서 활용되어 지고 있다. 활용분야가 넓은 WC-Co 초경합금의 제조방법은 WC, Co 분말을 혼합하여 약 900도에서 1차 예비소결 후 원하는 형상 가공 후 약 1,300~1,600도에서 2차 소결을 진행한다. 지금 현재 초경분말의 조성, 크기와 같은 변수들에 따른 초경합금의 기계적 특성 변화에 대한 연구가 계속적으로 진행되고 있다. 본 연구에서는 WC-Co 분말의 소결 특성을 향상시키고자 Planetary ball mill 장비를 활용하여 볼 밀링 공정을 진행하였고 Spark plasma sintering 장비를 활용하여 빠른 소결을 진행하였다. WC-Co 분말의 미세구조, 입도, 조성 및 분산의 변화를 관찰하기 위해 볼 밀링 전, 후 분말을 분석하였고 제조된 분말의 소결 특성을 확인하기 위해 상용화 된 WC-Co 분말의 소결 특성과 비교 평가하였다. 분석 결과 볼 밀링 공정 후 분말은 약 15 ${\mu}m$에서 4.4 ${\mu}m$로 미세해지는 것을 확인하였고 밀링 후 분말로 초경합금을 제작하였을 때 기존 상용화 초경합금제작 온도보다 약 100~400도 낮아지면서 경도 값은 약 20% 향상된 것을 확인할 수 있었다.

• Journal of Powder Materials
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• v.12 no.2 s.49
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• pp.112-116
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• 2005

In the present study, the focus is on the analysis of carbothermal reduction of oxide powder prepared from waste WC/Co hardmetal by solid carbon under a stream of argon for the recycling of the WC/Co hard-metal. The oxide powder was prepared by the combination of the oxidation and crushing processes using the waste $WC-8 wt.\%Co$ hardmetal as the raw material. This oxide powder was mixed with carbon black, and then this mixture was carbothermally reduced under a flowing argon atmosphere. The changes in the phase structure and gases discharge of the mixture during carbothermal reduction was analysed using XRD and gas analyzer. The oxide powder prepared from waste $WC-8wt.\%Co$ hardmetal has a mixture of $WO_{3} and CoWO_{4}$. This oxide powder reduced at about $850^{\circ}C$, formed tungsten carbides at about $950^{\circ}C$, and then fully transformed to a mixed state of tungsten carbide (WC) and cobalt at about $1100^{\circ}C$ by solid carbon under a stream of argon. The WC/Co composite powder synthesized at $1000^{\circ}C$ for 6 hours from oxide powder of waste $WC-8wt.\%Co$ hardmetal has an average particle size of $0.3 {\mu}m$.