• Proceedings of the Korean Powder Metallurgy Institute Conference
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• 2005.11a
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• pp.75-77
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• 2005

• Journal of Powder Materials
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• v.9 no.4
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• pp.273-279
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• 2002

In this study, the WC-10 wt.%Co nanopowders doped by grain growth inhibiter were produced by three different methods based on the spray conversion process. Agglomerated powders with homeogenous distribution of alloying elements and with internal particles of about 100-200 nm in diameter were synthesized. The microstructural changes and sintering behavior of hardmetal compacts were compared with doping method and sintering conditions. The microstructure of hardmetals was very sensitive to doping methods of inhibitor. Nanostructured WC-Co hardmetal powder compacts containing TaC/VC doped by chemical method instead of ball-milling shown superior sintering densification, and the microstructure maintained ultrafine scale with rounded WC particles.

• Proceedings of the Materials Research Society of Korea Conference
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• 2011.05a
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• pp.58.1-58.1
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• 2011

WC-Co and other similar cemented carbides have been widely used as hard materials in industrial cutting tools and as mould metals; and a number of techniques have been applied to improve its microstructural characteristics, hardness and ear resistance. Cobalt is used primarily to facilitate liquid phase sintering and acts as a matrix, i.e. a cementing phase between WC grains. A uniform distribution of metal phase in a ceramic is beneficial for improved mechanical properties of the composite. WC-Co, starting from initial powders, is vastly used for a variety of machining, cutting, drilling, and other applications because of its unique combination of high strength, high hardness, high toughness, and moderate modulus of elasticity, especially with fine grained WC and finely distributed cobalt. In this study, that started with two different compositions of initial powders, WC-7.5wt%Co and WC-12wt%Co with initial powder size being 1~3 ${\mu}m$, magnetic pulsed compaction followed by subsequent vacuum sintering were carried out to produce consolidated preforms. Magnetic Pulsed Compaction (MPC), a very short duration (~600 ${\mu}s$), high pressure (~4 Gpa), high-density preform molding method was used with varied pressure between 0.5 and 3.0 Gpa, in order to reach an initial high density that would help improve the sintering behavior. For both compositions and varied MPC pressure, before and after sintering, changes in microstructural behavior and mechanical properties were analyzed. With proper combination of MPC pressure and sintering, samples were obtained with better mechanical properties, densification and microstructural behavior, and considerably improved than other conventional processes.

• Proceedings of the Korean Powder Metallurgy Institute Conference
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• 2006.09a
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• pp.646-647
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• 2006

Nano-sized WC particles in WC/Co composite powders were synthesized by mechanochemical method. The raw powders$(WO_3,\;Co_3O_4,\;VC,\;Cr_3C_2$ and graphite) were mixed by planetary milling for 30 hours. The compositions were WC-10 and -20 wt% Co added VC and $Cr_3C_2$. The direct reduction and carburization of the mixed powders were carried at $900\;^{\circ}C$ for 1 to 3 hours under flowing Ar gas. The mean size of WC particles in WC/Co composite powders was about 16 nm. The resultant powders were compacted and sintered at $1300{\sim}1360\;^{\circ}C$ for 0.5 hour. After sintering the mean size of WC particles was about 50 nm.

• Korean Journal of Metals and Materials
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• v.50 no.12
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• pp.921-929
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• 2012

The pulsed current activated sintering method (PCAS) is a new rapid sintering method that was developed recently for fabricating ceramics and composites. This method combines a high temperature for a short time with pressure application. In this work, PCAS was used to fabricate $WC-5wt%Mo_2C-5wt%$ Co hard material using WC, $Mo_2C$, and Co. The $WC-Mo_2C-Co$ was almost completely dense with a relative density of up to 100% after the simultaneous application of a pressure of 60 MPa and electric current for 11 min without grain growth. The average grain size of WC that was produced through PCAS was about $0.5-0.6{\mu}m$. The vickers hardness and fracture toughness of the $WC-5wt%Mo_2C-5wt%$Co hard materials were about $2453.5kg/mm^2$ and $7.9MPa{\cdot}m^{1/2}$, respectively, for 60 MPa at $11200^{\circ}C$.

• Proceedings of the Korean Ceranic Society Conference
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• 2004.10a
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• pp.88.1-88.1
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• 2004

• Archives of Metallurgy and Materials
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• v.66 no.4
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• pp.997-1000
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• 2021

In this study, a novel composite was fabricated by adding the Hafnium diboride (HfB₂) to conventional WC-Co cemented carbides to enhance the high-temperature properties while retaining the intrinsic high hardness. Using spark plasma sintering, high density (up to 99.4%) WC-6Co-(1, 2.5, 4, and 5.5 wt. %) HfB₂ composites were consolidated at 1300℃ (100℃/min) under 60 MPa pressure. The microstructural evolution, oxidation layer, and phase constitution of WC-Co-HfB₂ were investigated in the distribution of WC grain and solid solution phases by X-ray diffraction and FE-SEM. The WC-Co-HfB₂ composite exhibited improved mechanical properties (approximately 2,180.7 kg/mm²) than those of conventional WC-Co cemented carbides. The high strength of the fabricated composites was caused by the fine-grade HfB₂ precipitate and the solid solution, which enabled the tailoring of mechanical properties.

• Journal of Powder Materials
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• v.10 no.4
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• pp.249-254
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• 2003

WC-6wt%Co hard metal powders were sintered by a 2.45 GHz multimode microwave applicator in Ar atmosphere. Microwave sintering of WC-6wt%Co powder lowered the sintering temperature and shortened the processing time in less than two hours than by a conventional method. Microstructures of the sintered specimen were studied with scanning electron microscope (SEM) and no abnormal grain growth was observed. Mechanical properties were similar to the values of the specimens sintered by a conventional method. Specimen sintered at 135$0^{\circ}C$ for 30 minutes ,hewed 99%, 20.5 GPa and 8.1 MPa$\sqrt{m}$ of theoretical density, hardness and fracture strength, respectively.

• Proceedings of the Korean Powder Metallurgy Institute Conference
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• 2006.09a
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• pp.635-636
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• 2006

In this study, the diffusion behaviors of C and Co in liquid phase sintering of WC-Co system were investigated whether these two components diffused in the same direction in case of having opposite gradient each other with not being $\eta$ phase. The green compacts with controlled compositions in not being of $\eta$ phase and gradient composition which one is WC-5Co-1.2%C, the other is WC-XCo-0.2%C (where X = 5, 10, 15, 20, 25) were sintered at $1350^{\circ}C$ and $1400^{\circ}C$ and then the diffusion behaviors of C and Co were investigated by analyses of compositional change, also determined for microstructure and microhardness. Also, same testing was carried out on the specimens with dual layers sintered in upright and reverse positions to evaluate the effect of gravity on the diffusion in liquid Co. From the results of this study, we can find the fact that the direction of diffusion for C and Co in WC-Co system during liquid phase sintering was different and the effect of gravity for the liquid was insignificant. Also other physical properties were changed on the diffusion of elements.

• Journal of Powder Materials
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• v.6 no.4
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• pp.307-313
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• 1999

The effect of carbon content on the shape of WC grains dispersed in the Co-rich matrix during liquid phase sintering of WC-35%Co hard metals has been determined. The shape of WC grains was observed using SEM stereography after removing cobalt matrix with boiling hydrochloric acid solution. The WC grains changed from hexagonal to trigonal prism as the carbon content increased in the two-phase region of(WC + $\beta$ - Co), while the morphology of WC grains changed from trigonal to hexagonal shape as the carbon content decreased. The morphology of WC grains changes reversibly along with carbon loss or carbon pick-up. Morphology change of WC grains is attributed to crystal structure of WC, which has an asymmetric array of carbon atoms. There are two types of prismatic planes having different numbers of broken W-C bonds in WC grains. It is scrutinized that as the carbon content increases, the high energy prism planes grow fast and the crystals change from hexagonal to trigonal shape. On the other hand, when the carbon content decreases, the high energy prism planes are dissolved accompanying split of (100) plane into (101) and (101) planes.