Preparation of ultrafine WC-V8C7-Cr3C2-co cemented carbides by spark plasma sintering in-situ synthesis of composite grain growth inhibitors

The growing high-precision manufacturing industry is increasing the demand for cemented carbide which has fine grain size and excellent machinability. In this research, ultrafine cemented carbide was successfully prepared by the method of in-situ synthesis using spark plasma sintering as densification method, V, Cr, WC and carbon black as raw materials. The formation mechanism of in-situ preparation of grain growth inhibitors (GGIs) and its influence on the properties of alloys were investigated. An excellent mechanical property (H_V 2254 kgf/mm², K_IC 9.20 MPa·m^1/2) and uniform microstructure of the alloys (0.8 wt% V₈C₇–0.8 wt% Cr₃C₂) prepared under 1350 °C, 6 min, 25 MPa were demonstrated by the results. The WC grain growth was significantly inhibited (about 200 nm). The in-situ synthesized GGIs significantly inhibited grain coarsening by interfering with the dissolution-precipitation process of WC during liquid-phase sintering. The combination of SPS and in-situ synthesized GGIs offers a novel approach to exploration of the preparation of high-performance ultrafine or nanocrystalline cemented carbides.