Study of the sintering behavior of fine, ultrafine and nanocrystalline WC-CO mixtures obtained by high energy milling

In this work the sintering behaviour of fine, ultrafine and nanocrystalline WC-12Co mixtures obtained by high energy milling, as well commercial nano powders, have been studied, in order to evaluate the effect of the particle size and the powder processing, in the densification, microstructural development and mechanical properties of the final product. The consolidation of the mixtures has been made by uniaxial pressing and sintering in vacuum, and by hot isostatic pressing. The sintered materials have been evaluated by measures of density, hardness and indentation fracture toughness, and micro structurally characterized by optical microscopy and scanning and transmission electronic microscopy (SEM and TEM). The results show the improvements in resistant behaviour of the materials obtained from nanocrystalline powders, in spite of the grain growth experienced during the sintering. The best results were obtained for the milling nanocrystalline material, which presents values of hardness higher than 180 HV. (Author) 46 refs