Influence of the Addition of Rare-Earth Elements on the Sintering of Cemented Carbide

Abstract

This work presents the results of a study concerning the influence of the addition of rareearth elements (La2O3 and CeO2) on the sintering of the WC/10Co cemented carbide. Several WC/10Co mixtures containing up to 3 wt.% rare-earth of the cobalt phase were prepared. Specimens were uniaxially pressed at 200 MPa, and sintered in a vacuum furnace at 1400 °C during 60 minutes. The sintering behaviour was accompanied by the linear shrinkage, density, and mechanical strength. The development of the microstructure was followed by XRD and SEM. The results showed that the sintering behaviour of the WC/10Co cemented carbide was influenced by adding of rare-earth element. In addition, the lanthanium oxide addition was more effective on the improvement of the physical-mechanical properties of the studied carbide.