The Influence of Carbon Addition on the Physical and Mechanical Properties of WC-Co Sintered Powders

The mechanical properties of WC-Co are highly dependent on its cobalt content, density and grain size of the WC particles. Addition of free carbon during the consolidation of process is said to improve the densification process and inhibit grain growth. However, there are still plenty of works needs to be done regarding this matter to support the fact. Therefore, this study is to evaluate the effect of carbon addition on the physical and mechanical properties of WC-Co-C sintered powders. The WC-Co-C sample is fabricated using powder metallurgy technique, in which the powders were uniaxially pressed at 625 MPa and cold-isostatic pressed at 200 MPa. Then, the sample is sintered in nitrogen-based atmosphere at temperature range of 1350-1450C. The physical and mechanical properties of the WC-Co sintered powders were analysed. It is found that WC-Co-C has a relatively higher density and hardness but exhibit lower transverse rupture strength compared to WC-Co.