The Analysis of Erosive Wear Resistance of WC-Co Carbides Obtained by Spark Plasma Sintering Method

WC-Co (tungsten carbide-cobalt) composites are widely used in industry, wear-resistant parts, and cutting tools. As successful tool materials, WC-Co carbides are widely applied in metal cutting, wear applications, chipless forming, stoneworking, wood, and plastic working. These materials are exposed to severe solid particle erosion by sand particles, such as in the wood industry. During the production of furniture with HDF (High Density Fibreboard), MDF (Medium Density Fibreboard), or OSB (Oriented Strand Board), there are observed problems with tool erosion. Contamination, mainly of the HDF by sand, is quite often, which is why all tools used for the machining of such materials are exposed to erosion by sand particles. Although many studies have been performed on the erosion of various metals, and erosion models exist to predict their erosion behavior, the issue is still relevant. The aim of the study was to determine the effect of grain size (submicron, ultrafine) and the manufacturing technology (SPS—Spark Plasma Sintering, conventional) used on the erosive properties of WC-Co sintered carbides. Sinters produced by the SPS method with different sizes of WC grains and commercial samples were used for the tests. Ten two-hour cycles were carried out under medium conditions of quartz sand and quartz sand with 10% SiC added. Used samples were characterised using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and roughness was determined. Furthermore, erosion studies allowed individuating a wear mechanism as well as the possibility to foresee cutting performance in prospective application.