Role of Vanadium Carbide Additive during Sintering of WC–Co: Mechanism of Grain Growth Inhibition

In a WC–Co specimen, the shape of WC crystals was a triangular prism with truncated corners. When VC was added to inhibit grain growth, the crystal shape changed to a triangular prism without truncation. This shape change was related to the variation of edge energy, which has a significant influence on the coarsening process of WC grains.