Effect of FeAl3 on properties of (W,Ti)C-FeAl3 hard materials consolidated by a pulsed current activated sintering method

Abstract

Using a pulsed current activated sintering (PCAS) method, the densification of (W,Ti)C and (W,Ti)C-FeAl3 hard materials was accomplished within 3 min. The advantage of this process is not only rapid densification to near theoretical density, but also prevention of grain growth in nano-structured materials. Highly dense (W,Ti)C and (W,Ti)C-FeAl3 with a relative density up to 99% were obtained within 3 min by PCAS under a pressure of 80 MPa. The average grain size of the (W,Ti)C was less than 100 nm. Hardness and fracture toughness of the dense (W,Ti)C and (W,Ti)C-FeAl3 produced by PCAS were also investigated. The fracture toughness and hardness values of (W,Ti)C, (W,Ti)C-5 vol.% FeAl3, and (W,Ti)C-10 vol.% FeAl3 consolidated by PCAS were 7.5 MPa m(1/2) and 2650 kg/mm(2), 10.5 MPa m(1/2) and 2480 kg/mm(2), 11 MPa m(1/2) and 2300 kg/mm(2), respectively. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ltd and Techna Group S.r.l. All rights reserved.