Three-body abrasion behavior of ultrafine WC–Co hardmetal RX8UF with carborundum,corundum and silica sands in water-based slurries

The wear behavior of ultrafine WC–Co hardmetal RX8UF under water-based slurries with different concentrations of carborundum, corundum and silica sands was investigated through a modified ASTM B611 test system. Under the same conditions, the wear loss and rate of the specimen increased with the increase in abrasive hardness and concentration. The morphology examination on the worn surfaces revealed that when the specimen was worn with SiC the predominant wear mechanism was plastic groove and fracture of WC grains, but with Al₂O₃ or SiO₂ it would be the extrusion of binder followed by pullout of WC grains.