The Possibility of Production of Cemented Carbide under High Pressure and High Temperature
In this work the possibility of production of cemented carbide doped with rare-earth element (Y2O3) under condition of high pressure and high temperature (HPHT) was investigated. Initially, the cemented carbide powder (WC10wt.%Co) was submitted to conventional pressing at 800 MPa. The compacts were then sintered at 1400 °C for 40 s under a pressure of 5.5 GPa. The cemented carbide pieces were characterized in terms of relative density, coercive force, mechanical strength, microhardness, and wear resistance. The phase analysis was done by X-ray diffraction. It was established promising results on the production of cemented carbide under high pressure. Moreover, the addition of up to 1.5 wt.% of yttrium oxide in relation the cobalt phase enhanced the technical properties of the cemented carbide.