Development of WC-Fe 3 Al Composites by Spark Plasma Sintering Process

Tungsten carbide (WC) based composites are usually produced with cobalt, but this binder has the inconvenience of shortage, unstable price and potential carcinogenicity. The objective of this study was to develop WC composite with intermetallic Fe3Al matrix. Powders of WC, iron and aluminum, with composition WC-10 wt% Fe3Al, and 0.5 wt% zinc stearate were milled in a vibration mill for 6 h and sintered in a SPS (spark plasma sintering) furnace at 1150 °C for 8 min under pressure of 30 MPa. Measured density and microstructure analysis showed that the composite had significant densification during the (low-temperature, short time) sintering, and X-ray diffraction analysis showed the formation of intermetallic Fe3Al. Analysis by Vickers indentation resulted in hardness of 11.2 GPa and fracture toughness of 24.6 MPa.m1/2, showing the feasibility of producing dense WC-Fe3Al composite with high mechanical properties using the SPS technique.