Large-Scale Screening of Interface Parameters in the WC/W System Using Classical Force Field and First-Principles Calculations

To understand the observed wear in WC/Co tools during machining of Ti-alloys, it is important to know which interfaces are present in the tool-workpiece contact zone. It has been shown that WC grains in contact with the workpiece form a C depleted layer consisting of BCC W, and as such, knowledge of which WC/W interfaces can be expected and which interfaces can be used as starting points for further computations are of great importance. Here, this is studied by the systematic construction of interfaces and evaluation of the work of adhesion and interfacial energies of 60,000 unique interfaces spread across six different interface systems made up of the basal and prismatic surfaces of WC and the low index surfaces of BCC W. Calculations are made using a classical approach in LAMMPS as well as subset analysis using first principles in VASP (Vienna Ab Initio Simulation Package). The results show trends as functions of strain and system size giving a large-scale overview of this system and finding the energetically preferred interface combination to be the type-I, W-terminated prismatic WC surface against the [110] surface of BCC W.