Dry Reciprocating Sliding Friction and Wear Response of WC–Ni Cemented Carbides

Abstract

A number of WC-Ni based cemented carbide grades with distinctive binder contents were tested with the goal to evaluate their dry reciprocating sliding friction and wear behaviour against WC-6 wt.%Co cemented carbide using a Plint TE77 tribometer and distinctive normal contact loads. The generated wear tracks were analysed by scanning electron microscopy and quantified volumetrically using surface scanning topography. The experimental results revealed one WC-Ni grade with superior wear performance.

Sliding wear behavior of WC–Co–Cr3C2–VC composites fabricated by conventional and non-conventional techniques

“…The wear track analysis revealed that the wear process of the WC-Co cemented carbides obtained by CS is controlled by abrasion, grain fracture, binder removal, adhesion, grain pull-out and tribofilm formation. [31,35,36]. The WC phase undergoes fracture, which is attributed to the local contact load, exceeding the critical fracture limit of the WC phase [35,37].…”

Abrasion wear, thermal shock and impact resistance of WC-cemented carbides produced by PECS and LPS

“…Cemented carbides based on WC and a ductile metal matrix (Co, Ni and/or Fe) are used in a wide range oftribological applications such as cutting, mining, metal forming, drilling and turning [1], because of their good combinations of mechanical properties such as hardness, toughness, wear resistance and strength [1,2]. These properties depend mainly on the WC grain size, type and amount of binder [3], and thus to improve on the operation life of these cemented carbides, successful manipulation of these factors is required.…”

“…The hardness and abrasion wear resistance of WC cemented carbides produced by powder metallurgy increase with decreased WC grain size from the micron to the nanometric scale, and Co binder strengthening from increased W dissolution [1,4]. Additionally, reduced hardness with increased binder content is less in cemented carbides with finer WC grains than with micron-sized WC [5].…”

“…Additionally, Co has very good communition characteristics, giving better distribution during milling, and subsequent homogenous distribution in the microstructure [4]. However, because of unstable market prices due to short supply, health hazards for plant maintenance personnel and limited corrosion resistance, Ni has been studied as a possible alternative [1,13]. Nickel retains its ductile face centered cubic (fcc) structure at all temperatures [13,14].…”

“…Nickel retains its ductile face centered cubic (fcc) structure at all temperatures [13,14]. Nickel also has better resistance to corrosion and oxidation [15], and improves hot hardness and resistance to thermal cracking [1,10]. Additionally, its more ductile austenitic structure prevents loss of WC grains by extruding outwards to replace the eroded binder between the WC grains, improving the wear resistance [13].…”