Fracture Energy Measurement of Prismatic Plane and Σ2 Boundary in Cemented Carbide
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AbstractThe grain boundary network of WC in WC-Co is important, as cracks often travel intergranularly. This motivates the present work, where we experimentally measure the fracture energy of Σ2 twist grain boundaries between WC crystals using a double cantilever beam opened with a wedge under displacement control in a WC-10wt%Co sample. The fracture energy of this boundary type was compared with cleaving {$$10\overline{1}0$$ 10 1 ¯ 0 } prismatic planes in a WC single crystal. Fracture energies of 7.04 ± 0.36 Jm−2 and 3.57 ± 0.28 Jm−2 were measured for {$$10\overline{1}0$$ 10 1 ¯ 0 } plane and Σ2 twist boundaries, respectively.