A review of cemented carbides for rock drilling: An old but still tough challenge in geo-engineering

Mechanics and mechanisms of fatigue in a WC–Ni hardmetal and a comparative study with respect to WC–Co hardmetals

“…WC-Ni hardmetal exhibits hardness and flexural strength values close to those found in Co-base grades with a similar mean free path [19,34,35]. Such response is different from trends indicated by other authors [36,37], and should be ascribed to the chromium dissolved within the binder. It has been stated that minor and moderate additions of chromium raise the hardness and load-deflection response of WC-Ni up to levels exhibited by WC-Co grades [3] via solid solution in nickel.…”

“…However, as observed for other brittle-like materials, R effects are largely reduced when plotting FCG against K max . This is an indication of predominance of static over cyclic failure modes [21,37].…”

Influences of the preparation methods of WC–Co powders on the sintering and microstructure of coarse grained WC–8Co hardmetals

“…It suggests that hardness can increase as the WC volume fraction increases and the WC grain size decreases, while strength can increase as the Co content increases and the WC grain size decreases. Thus, WC-Co hardmetals can be designed to adapt the various operating conditions, such as cutting, rock drilling and molding [4][5][6].…”

Elucidating PDC rock cutting behavior in dry and aqueous conditions using tribometry

“…While a water, air, or mud immersion or jet can be used to simulate the removal of frictional heat and rock debris, the rock often remains at ambient pressure. It is also worth noting that ambient studies such as those conducted on VTL or tribometer rigs, are also applicable to the study of ambient mining for excavation or resources such as coal and precious metals [33][34][35]. In particular, these rocks are generally softer, requiring lower loads to achieve cutting.…”