A new route to fabricate high‐performance binderless tungsten carbide: Dynamic sinter forging

Abstract

AbstractIn this paper, we report the synthesis of fully dense and ultrafine‐grained binderless tungsten carbide (WC) by novel dynamic sinter forging. A nearly fully dense sample was obtained at 1500°C and 220 ± 30 MPa@90 min. The hardness and fracture toughness of the sample with forging time of 180 min are 29.6 GPa and 7.3 MPa·m1/2, respectively, much higher than the counterparts prepared by conventional sinter forging and other techniques. The enhanced densification and mechanical properties are attributed to the intragranular plastic deformation accommodated grain‐boundary sliding induced by oscillatory pressure during dynamic sinter forging. The current results suggest a promising approach for the manufacturing of high‐performance binderless WCs. Also, the method is likely applicable to other material systems.