Properties of WC-TiC-10% Co and β-10%Co alloys containing up to 20 mol% of various carbides, i.e., V
4C
3, Cr
3C
2, ZrC, NbC, Mo
2C and TaC were studied at room temperature.
The results are as follows:(1) Grain size of the β-phase in β-10%Co alloy is increased by addition of Cr
3C
2 and V
4C
3, and is reduced by ZrC, NbC and TaC. Heterogeneous β-phase appears as the amount of ZrC increases. (2) The lattice parameters of β'-phase, i.e., carbide containing β-phase, increase with increasing ZrC, NbC and TaC but decrease sharply with addition of Cr
3C
2, V
4C
3 and Mo
2C. (3) A large amount of Cr
3C
2 dissolves into the binder phase, but the other carbides are almost insoluble. (4) The hardness of the alloys is increased by ZrC and reduced by Cr
3C
2. (5) The strength of the alloys, which is higher in Ni binder than in' Co binder, is decreased remarkably by adding V
4C
3, Cr
3C
2 and ZrC, and is improved by Mo
2C, NbC and TaC. The strength of the three phase (WC-β-γ) alloys is associated with that of two phase (β-7) alloys, suggesting that the strength of two or three phase alloy is controlled by that of β-phase or of β/γ interface.
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