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. 2022 May 17;15(10):3569.
doi: 10.3390/ma15103569.

Influence of Diamond Grain Size on the Basic Properties of WC-Co/Diamond Composites Used in Tools for Wood-Based Materials Machining

Joanna Wachowicz  1 , Jacek Wilkowski  1
Affiliations

Influence of Diamond Grain Size on the Basic Properties of WC-Co/Diamond Composites Used in Tools for Wood-Based Materials Machining

Joanna Wachowicz et al. Materials (Basel). .

Abstract

The paper presents the effect of diamond particle size (varying between 2.5 µm and 20 µm) on the microstructure, density and hardness of WC-Co/diamond composites. The obtained materials contained 30% vol. diamond. The advanced sintering method Pulse Plasma Sintering (PPS) was used for the production of composites. The sintering process was carried out in two stages at a pressure of 50 and 100 MPa and a temperature of 1050 °C. Depending on the size of the diamond particles, composites with a density of 91-99% were obtained. Microstructure studies were performed employing scanning electron microscopy, along with an analysis of the chemical composition in micro-areas. Additionally, the phase composition was investigated by means of X-ray diffraction. In addition, hardness tests were performed. It was found that the size of the diamond particles significantly influenced the microstructure of the tested materials, as well as the density and hardness. As a result of PPS sintering of composites containing the finest diamond particles (2.5-5 µm), the presence of a metastable type of diamond-graphite was found.

Keywords: cemented carbides WC-Co; powder metallurgy; sintering.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
SEM image and XRD analysis: (a) cobalt powder, (b) WC powder.
Figure 2
Figure 2
SEM image and particle size distribution of starting diamond powders. (a) 16–20 μm; (b) 8–10 μm; (c) 2.5–5 μm.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Impact of pressing pressure on density of WC-Co.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Schematic course of the consolidation process of the WC-Co/diamond composite.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Impact of the diamond size on the density of the WC-Co/diamond composites.
Figure 6
Figure 6
Impact of diamond particle size on the hardness of WC-Co/diamond composite.
Figure 7
Figure 7
SEM images of WC-Co/diamond 2.5–5 μm composite: (a) surface microstructure end EDS results, (b) fracture microstructure.
Figure 8
Figure 8
SEM images of WC-Co/diamond composites (a) 8–10 μm, (b) 16–20 μm.
Figure 9
Figure 9
Diffraction patterns of WC-Co/diamond composites with different diamond particle sizes: (a) 2.5–5 μm, (b) 8–10 μm, (c) 16–20 μm.
Figure 10
Figure 10
Diffraction analysis of WCCo/diamond composite (8–10 μm and 16–20 μm).
Figure 11
Figure 11
WC grain size distribution: (a) in WC-Co/diamond composites, (b) in WC starting powder.
Figure 11
Figure 11
WC grain size distribution: (a) in WC-Co/diamond composites, (b) in WC starting powder.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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