Microstructure and Mechanical Properties of Sintered Fibrous Monolith Cemented Carbide

Abstract

A fibrous monolith cemented carbide with WC-6Co as cell and WC-20Co as cell boundaries was produced through hot co-extrusion process in this paper. The density, hardness, bending strength and fracture toughness of the fibrous monolith cemented carbide were tested, and the fracture and crack propagation were observed by metalloscope and SEM. The results showed that the bending strength and fracture toughness of the fibrous monolith cemented carbides was remarkably improved 71.91% and 45.7% respectively, while the hardness was slightly decreased 1% compared with WC-6Co composites. It is the reason that the tougher shell WC-20Co with higher bending strength and fracture toughness can absorb more fracture energy, which can slow down and prevent the crack propagating from brittle core WC-6Co.