Study on the mechanical properties, microstructure and corrosion behaviors of nano-WC–Co–Ni–Fe hard materials through HIP and hot-press sintering processes

This study aims to explore a series of Hot Isostatic Pressing (HIP) and hot-press sintering processes in order to examine the effects on the mechanical properties, microstructures and corrosion behaviors of micro- and nano-WC materials. The experimental results showed that the transverse rupture strength (TRS) values of micro- and nano-WC increased to 1627.3 and 1842.7 MPa after 1250 °C, 125 MPa, 100 min HIP treatments, respectively. Meanwhile, the porosity decreased slightly. The corrosion test results also showed that HIP-treated micro- and nano-WC effectively improved corrosion resistance in a 3.5 wt% NaCl solution. In addition, the lowest porosity (0.21%), highest hardness (91.7 HRA) and highest KIC (14.7 MPa√m) values appeared in nano-WC after 1250 °C, 15 MPa, 1 h hot-press sintering. Moreover, the hot-press sintering procedure significantly inhibited the grain growth of the tungsten carbide materials.