A Review on Binderless Tungsten Carbide: Development and Application

Abstract

HIGHLIGHTS• Establish processing-composition-microstructure-property relationships governing binderless tungsten carbide (BTC).• Highlight the densification improving strategies and toughening methods for BTC.• Provide key challenges as well as the outlook for superior peformance associated with BTC.ABSTRACT WC-Co alloys have enjoyed great practical significance owing to their excellent properties during the past decades. Despite the advantages, however, recently there have been concerns about the challenges associated with the use of Co, i.e. price instability, toxicity and properties degeneration, which necessitates the fabrication of binderless tungsten carbide (BTC). On the other hand, BTC or BTC composites, none of them, to date has been commercialized and produced on an industrial scale, but only used to a limited extent for specialized applications, such as mechanical seals undergoing high burthen as well as high temperature electrical contacts. There are two challenges in developing BTC: fully densifying the sintered body together with achieving a high toughness. Thus, this review applies towards comprehensively summarize the current knowledge of sintering behavior, microstructure, and mechanical properties of BTC, highlighting the densification improving strategies as well as toughening methods, so as to provide reference for those who would like to enhance the performance of BTC with better reliability advancing them to further wide applications and prepare the material in a way that is environment friendly, harmless to human health and low in production cost. This paper shows that the fabrication of highly dense and high-performance BTC is economically and technically feasible. The properties of BTC can be tailored by judiciously selecting the chemical composition coupled with taking into careful account the effects of processing techniques and parameters.

(W1‐x,Mx)C carbides with desired combinations of compatible density and properties – A first‐principles study

“…The coatings containing WC can be made by thermal spraying, spray‐fuse, and welding processes 8,9 . Such composite coatings are effective, economic, and flexible for surface protection, which is extensively used in various industrial operations 6,8,10,11 . However, issues exist when making WC composite coatings.…”

“…8,9 Such composite coatings are effective, economic, and flexible for surface protection, which is extensively used in various industrial operations. 6,8,10,11 However, issues exist when making WC composite coatings. For instance, one of the main problems is the inhomogeneity of WC particle distribution in the metal…”

The Critical Raw Materials in Cutting Tools for Machining Applications: A Review

“…These materials were characterized by high hardness and abrasion resistance, but exhibited greater brittleness compared to cemented carbide WC-Co. For binderless tungsten carbide, the sintering took place in a solid phase, which for conventional, pressure-free sintering means higher sintering temperatures and/or longer sintering times, which in turn cause grain growth in the polycrystalline material. The use of nano-powders and pressure sintering methods (spark plasma sintering, hot pressing sintering) improved the properties of the cobalt-free cemented carbides [16][17][18][19].…”

Microstructural investigations in binderless tungsten carbide with grain growth inhibitors

“…Most recent studies use spark plasma sintering and hot isostatic pressure techniques. Additions of carbides, borides or oxides with different amounts, dissolving or not in the carbide phase were investigated to enhance densification and improve mechanical properties [6][7][8].…”