Carbide

Characterisation

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 Cutting Tool Materials
Superhards

SPEED
(Thermal
Ceramics Coated
Deform. Carbides
Resist.) Cermets
Carbides
HSCO
HSS

FEED, DOC, Interruptions

(Fracture Resistance)
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 Composition / Grain Size vs. Properties
3 - 12% Cobalt and 1-5 m carbide grain size
1 5 m

Fine grained Coarse grained

3 12%
(1 m) (5 m)

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CVD Al2O3 Surface Morphology

Fine Grain Coarse Grain

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 Hardness
Determines resistance to abrasive wear
Higher hardness higher abrasion resistance

Depends on:
Composition
(primarily WC content)
Microstructure
(WC grain size)

Measured by Rockwell
or Vickers method

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 Hardness
Hardness decreases with increasing cobalt and
increasing carbide grain size.

Straight WC-Co alloys

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 Compressive Strength
Measure of deformation
resistance
Compressive strength of
carbide is higher than most
other materials
Like hardness, compressive
strength decreases with increasing cobalt,
increasing grain size, or increasing temperatures

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 Compressive Strength
Straight WC-Co alloys

YS @ 0.2% strain for grades with medium WC grain size

A: WC-22(Ti,Ta,Nb)C-5Co B: WC-12(Ti,Ta,Nb)C-8Co
C: WC-8(Ti,Ta,Nb)C-6Co D: WC-2TaC-12Co

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 Transverse Rupture Strength
TRS measures the bending fracture strength of
carbides
TRS = f (composition, microstructure, porosity)
Excellent quality
control tool

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Transverse Rupture Strength

Straight WC-Co alloys

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 Fracture Toughness
Measures resistance to fracture
Determines intrinsic tool toughness
Less sensitive than TRS to
Specimen size and geometry
Surface finish
Flaws such as porosity
Depends on:
Composition (more cobalt higher toughness)
Grain size (coarser grains higher toughness)
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Fracture Toughness

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Thermal Shock Resistance
- Required in operations like milling
- No laboratory test developed yet
- Various empirical parameters used

e.g. KIc.k
E.
where KIc = fracture toughness
k = thermal conductivity
E = Youngs modulus
= thermal expansion coefficient
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 Thermal Shock Resistance
(TSR)
TSR = f (composition & grain size)
TSR increases with cobalt content and carbide
grain size.
Straight WC-Co alloys have higher TSR than
steel cutting grades.

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 High Temperature Hardness
Hardness decreases
steadily with increasing
temperatures
(Microhardness based on 1kg load)
Grades with medium WC grain size
% of cobalt
A: WC-3Co
B: WC-6Co
C: WC-12(Ti,Ta,Nb)C-8Co
D: WC-2TaC-12Co

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 Tool Material Design
Metalcutting environment:
heat (thermal deformation)

pressure (deformation, fracture)

wear (pure abrasion, chemical wear, notching)

interrupted cuts (thermal & mechanical cycling)

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