The effect of milling time on the properties of binderless nanostuctured (W,Ti)C consolidated by pulsed current activated sintering

Abstract

The grain size of (Ti, W)C decreases with an increase in ball milling time. Nanopowder of (Ti, W)C was fabricated by high energy ball milling for 10 h. The rapid sintering of nanostuctured (Ti, W)C hard materials was investigated with pulsed current activated sintering via a heating sintering process. The advantage of this process is that it allows very quick densification to near theoretical density and prohibition of grain growth in nanostuctured materials. A dense nanostructured (Ti,W)C hard material with a relative density of up to 99% was produced with simultaneous application of 80 MPa pressure and a pulsed current of 2700A within 3 minutes. The effect of ball milling time on the sintering behavior, grain size and mechanical properties of binderless (Ti,W)C was investigated.