Double Inhibitory Actions on WC Grains of Microwave Sintered WC-12wt%Co-VC Alloy

It is well known that grain-refinement has a positive impact on the mechanical properties of WC-Co cemented carbide. The effect of VC inhibitor and microwave on density, microstructure and mechanical properties of the sintered WC–12wt%Co alloy was investigated in the present study. The ball milled WC-12wt%Co-xVC composites were compressed and fabricated by using microwave sintering method. The experimental results indicate that the microwave sintering cycle was significantly shorter to that of vacuum processing, and the density of bulk alloys increased with VC inhibitor contents and microwave sintering temperatures. Moreover, the microstructure observation of the sintered samples suggests that VC inhibitor had prominent inhibitory action on WC grains in microwave exposure, and the WC average grain size of alloy with 0.7wt%VC inhibitor was 0.43μm when the sintering temperature reached 1420°C. It is also evident that WC-12wt% alloys with an appropriate proportion of VC inhibitor exhibited higher hardness (92.1HRA) and better transverse rupture strength (2380MPa). And finally the mechanism of inhibitory effects on WC grains under microwave irradiation was discussed.