Analysis of properties and microstructure of high speed steel-tungsten carbide composite
Jarosław Indra, Jan Leżański Akademia Górniczo-Hutnicza, Wydział Inżynierii Metali i Informatyki Przemysłowej, al. A. Mickiewicza 30, 30-059 Kraków, Poland
Quarterly No. 3, 2007 pages 122-125
DOI:
keywords: composite, high speed steel, tungsten carbide, pressing, sintering
abstract In this paper the manufacturing process and properties of sintered M35 high speed steel with addition of tungsten carbide WC composite have been studied. The high speed steel M35 based composite with addition of 10 wt. % tungsten carbide WC were manufactured a conventional powder metallurgy (P/M) router: mixing, compacting and sintering. The carbide and base materials were dry mixed in ceramic mortar by 30 minutes and uniaxially compacted at 800 MPa. After this vacuum sintering was carried out at 1220°C determined as optimal sintering temperature in a previous sinterability study. Sintered materials were characterized by density and microhardness measuring. The study is completed with a microstructural ana¬lysis by light microscopy and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Density was measured on the base of Archimedes’ law. For the microhardness measurement Hanemann hardness testing machine was used. For microstructure examination of sintered composite light microscope type LEICA DM4000 and SEM microscope type HITACHI 3500 were employed. Diffractometer TUR M62 with HZG4 goniometer was employed for X-ray diffraction analysis. On the base of results and microstructure observation it may be concluded that tungsten carbide content simultaneously affect the as-sintered properties of the investigated composites.