Adhesive wear performance of self-lubricating functionally graded cemented tungsten carbide prepared by spark plasma sintering

In order to encourage environment friendly manufacturing, dry machining is extensively explored and acknowledged. Consequently Functionally Graded Cemented Tungsten Carbide (FGCC) with solid lubricant was prepared by Spark Plasma Sintering at different heating rate and sintering temperature. The wear behavior of developed materials was explored by pin-on-disc tribological tests and dry machining. The attempts were made to analyze effect of key test parameters (such as load, ambient temperature, and sliding velocity) and solid lubricant over tribological behavior. The presence of solid lubricant resulted in reduced coefficient of friction (COF) and wear. The ambient temperature and load were displayed most significant influence over wear and COF respectively. Also samples prepared at high sintering temperature as well as heating rate demonstrated lower wear and COF. Additionally, the primary failure mechanism was identified as binder removal. These tribological examinations confirmed the suitability of self-lubricating FGCC as a cutting tool material for dry machining.