Comparative studies of WC-Co and WC-Co-Ni composites obtained by conventional powder metallurgy

The present work reports a comparative study of cemented carbides of compositions WC-6Co, WC-10Co, WC-20Co, WC-6Co-6Ni and WC-12Ni-6Co. The purpose was to study the powder metallurgical production process of these compositions starting from a commercial WC-6Co powder, obtaining the desired compositions by mass balance with pure Co and pure Ni powders. During the process steps mixing, milling, compacting and sintering the powders were described by its apparent density, green density, shrinkage and sintered density. Lower densities were observed in composites with higher binder content. The proc...