Hardening and Toughening Mechanisms of Cemented Carbides with Plate-Like WC Grains Prepared by Seeding

Abstract

WC-10Co (mass pct.) cemented carbides containing plate-like WC grains were prepared by using plate-like WC single crystals as seeds. With the increase of seed addition amount, more and bigger plate-like WC grains are formed, the hardness and transverse rupture strength (TRS) increase first and then decrease. When 2.5 mass% seeds are added in WC-10Co, the density is hardly affected, whereas the hardness and TRS increase simultaneously, especially TRS increases by 12.8%. The hardening and toughening mechanisms of WC-10Co cemented carbides with plate-like WC grains were discussed.