Influence of small additions of MeC on properties of binderless tungsten carbide

The aim of this research is to investigate the effect of small MeC additions to ultrafine WC. The studied MeC added are VC, Cr3C2, Mo2C, NbC, TaC, ZrC and TiC with quantities of 1 wt.% (between 1.1 and 3.1 Vol.%). Mixtures were milled, cold isostatic pressed and sintered using a sinterHIP furnace at 1900 °C. The results showed that except for TiC addition no residues of the MeC additions could be detected by XRD. EDS analysis showed only homogenously distributed Me and no pure MeC phase could be found, hinting the dissolution of Me atoms within Tungsten Carbide (WC or W2C). However, in case of the addition of TiC a second phase consisting of W and Ti and the structure of (Ti, W)C2 was detected by EDS and XRD.