Microstructure, mechanical properties and wear resistance of rare earth doped WC/steel matrix composites:Experimental and calculations

The effects of different rare earth elements on the microstructure, mechanical properties and wear resistance of WC/steel matrix composites were investigated in detail. The composite were successfully prepared through powder metallurgy vacuum sintering process, and the microstructures of different rare earth types were observed. The mechanical properties of the interfacial reaction phase Fe3W3C of the composites doped with rare earth elements were theoretically calculated by the first principles method, and the mechanical properties such as hardness, compressive strength, young's modulus and wear properties were tested, respectively. The results showed that the addition of a very small amount of rare earth elements did not change the type of microstructure. The compressive strength of the composites and the microhardness of the interface reaction zone (IRZ) were significantly improved, and the young's modulus of the IRZ was decreased, and the anisotropy of the composites was increased. The wear resistance of rare earth doped composites was higher than that of the undoped ones, which was mainly due to the fact that rare earth elements improved the strength and hardness of the composites.