Wear properties of borided WC-Co

Abstract

Abstract Today, artificially produced tungsten carbide (WC) tools are used as an alternative to diamonds such as mining, drilling, cutting, or machining. Although it is called WC, it also contains a certain amount of cobalt (Co). The most important reason for this is that it increases the wear resistance of the WC. Boriding is a type of surface hardening method that provides wear, hardness, and corrosion resistance to the applied surface. In boriding, which is a kind of diffusion process, there is no change in the dimensions of the materials since the boride layer grows from the outer surface of the materials to the inside. In this study, the development of surface properties by boriding of 90 wt% WC and 10 wt% Co-containing abrasive bits used for drilling were investigated. The samples were borided in an atmosphere-controlled furnace at 1173, 1273, and 1373 K for 1, 2, and 3 h by the pack boriding method. After the boriding processes, the microstructure, hardness, and chemical composition of the boride layers formed on the surface of the samples were examined, and finally, the wear tests were carried out to reveal the differences compared to the unborided sample.