Traditional hard metals based on WC/Co system are currently the most important hard metals due to their high hardness, mechanical impact strength and wear resistance, which always take the largest share of the global cutting market. Interest in the field of alternative binders in hard metals has been driven by the protection of human health and the environment, since binder alloys including Co and Ni are reported as carcinogens to human health and toxic chemicals to the environment. In addition, Co binder has a drawback: the fluctuation in its price and high cost. Thus, this investigation aims to develop novel hard metals with outstanding properties avoiding the use of Co or Ni. A literature revision suggests that CrFe alloy may be a good alternative binder, because of its easy availability, reduced price and non-toxicity compared to Co and Ni.

In this framework, Novel WC-CrFe hard metals will be designed and processed by powder metallurgical (PM) routes including mechanical milling (MM), field-assisted hot pressing (FAHP) and spark plasma sintering (SPS). These innovative hard metals will combine all the requirements needed for their application in the cutting tool industry, such as good hardness and toughness combination, wear resistance, compressive strength, and corrosion resistance.

Ponente(s):
Xiangxing Deng
Lugar:
Sala de Seminarios – Instituto IMDEA Materiales (14:00 hr)
Organización:
Instituto IMDEA Materiales
Fecha:
Tuesday, 13 December, 2016