Synergistic strengthening and toughening of oscillatory pressure sintered WC-ZrO2-Al2O3 ceramics

Ultrafine‐grained WC‐based ceramics prepared via two‐step oscillatory pressure sintering

“…Based on the mismatch formula, 36 the misfit between the atomic plane regions A and B was 0.0475; it could be concluded that a coherent relationship existed at this interface. It was reported that the coherent relationship implied a strong bonding state that existed at the interface 19 . Such interfacial bonding might contribute to the enhancement of comprehensive mechanical properties.…”

“…The experimental process was carried out (Figure S1), using anhydrous ethanol as the dispersion medium and adding 2 wt% of the nanopowder with a mixed dispersant (PVP:PEG = 1:1) to form a nano‐suspension. Based on our previous research, 18 0.2 wt% VC and 0.8 wt% Cr 3 C 2 were added as grain growth inhibitors (GGI) to regulate the microstructure from the perspective of optimizing the chemical composition; also, ZrO 2 –20 wt% Al 2 O 3 composite powder was used as the toughening phase, and its content was fixed at 8 wt% according to our previous work 19 . The powders with smaller particle sizes (ZrO 2 –20 wt% Al 2 O 3 , VC, and Cr 3 C 2 ) were preferentially dispersed with the nano‐suspension.…”

“…Surface etching of polished specimens was carried out using the hot alkali method, whose details could be seen in Ref. [19]. Grain size analysis (more than 600 grains) was carried out by using Image Analysis Software (Image‐Pro Plus 6.0).…”

“…Based on our previous research, 18 0.2 wt% VC and 0.8 wt% Cr 3 C 2 were added as grain growth inhibitors (GGI) to regulate the microstructure from the perspective of optimizing the chemical composition; also, ZrO 2 -20 wt% Al 2 O 3 composite powder was used as the toughening phase, and its content was fixed at 8 wt% according to our previous work. 19 The powders with smaller particle sizes (ZrO 2 -20 wt% Al 2 O 3 , VC, and Cr 3 C 2 ) were preferentially dispersed with the nano-suspension. The suspension was sonicated and mechanically stirred for 1 h at 80 • C in a water bath, followed by the addition of WC powder and continued sonication for 1 h to produce the slurry dispersion, which was ball-milled for 48 h. The preprepared ceramic powder was placed in an OPS furnace (Zhuzhou Wanrong New Materials Technology Co., Ltd.) and consolidated under vacuum (p < 10 Pa).…”

“…It was reported that the coherent relationship implied a strong bonding state that existed at the interface. 19 Such interfacial bonding might contribute to the enhancement of comprehensive mechanical properties.…”