硬质合金的疲劳与断裂

硬质合金在使用中一般同时承受多重疲劳的共同作用,了解硬质合金的疲劳破坏机理和提高其疲劳性能是硬质合金研究领域的一个重要方向。综述各种硬质合金工具在不同环境中的疲劳破坏情况,概括目前国内外学者对硬质合金疲劳性能的机理的研究进展。同时介绍本课题组在自行改造的疲劳试验机上对硬质合金多重疲劳开展的一些工作。     

Micro-scale impact testing on cemented carbides

Neither hardness nor fracture toughness alone can reliably predict tool performance under repetitive impact testing such as in drilling operations or solid particle impact. WC-Co based alloys are usually classified for the application according to those two properties without much consideration on their resistance to impact fatigue.The aim of the present study is to evaluate the behaviour of three cemented carbide grades used for oil and gas applications under micro-scale impact fatigue, two of them having similar hardness and toughness values, one with the presence of cubic carbides.In the repetitive micro-impact tests at a load range of 1–3 N with a normalized penetration depth (h/R) larger than typical macroimpact tests, it was found that neither the hardest and stiffest grade nor the toughest grade exhibited highest resistance to impact fatigue, but rather the one with the highest H/E and highest H³/E² ratios, meaning that it shows higher elastic strain to break and resistance to plastic deformation.Examination of the damage showed significant differences in the extent of plastic deformation and crack patterns, being the grade with lower contiguity and higher mean free path, the one with larger degradation on the carbide structure at all examined loads, and the grade with CoNi binder and cubic carbides having lower damage rate.     

Study of solid-state sintered fine-grained cemented carbides

Submicron cemented carbides are most often produced by liquid phase sintering. To retard the grain growth during sintering, these materials are sintered at low temperatures and with addition of grain growth inhibitors, e.g. Cr and V. The common hypothesis is that the sintered material would benefit from a more evenly distributed inhibitor in the WC raw material, in order to control the grain growth during both the solid-state and liquid phase part of the sintering.

Aiming to study the distribution of Cr specifically after solid-state sintering, a Cr-doped WC-powder was mixed with Co and excess of carbon, and subsequently hot-pressed for 1 h and 30 MPa at 1200 °C. This transmission electron microscopy study shows that Cr is concentrated to the surfaces of the WC grains in the sample after mentioned solid-state sintering.     

Interface characteristics in cemented carbides with alternative binders

Cemented tungsten carbides with Co, Ni or Fe binders were studied by transmission electron microscopy. Particular attention was paid to phase and grain boundaries. A striking feature is the high frequency of coherent carbide/binder interfaces with Fe. The Fe rich binder adopts an epitaxy orientation relationship with prismatic facets of WC, with a parametric misfit of about 1.5%. A special orientation relationship with basal facets of WC grains is sometimes observed with Ni binder, as already noticed for Co. It is associated with a parametric misfit of about 15%. Binder segregation in WC grain boundaries was studied taking into account the effect of carbon content in the alloys. Whatever the binder, no influence of the carbon content could be pointed out. The analyses performed in random grain boundaries in WC-Co alloys agree with the literature value of 0.5 monolayer of segregated Co while slightly larger values are obtained for Ni and Fe binder. ∑ = 2 special grain boundaries were studied in WC-Co and WC-Ni alloys and no segregation was detected. The higher grain boundary segregation as well as the occurrence of coherent interfaces should influence the mechanical properties of WC-Fe alloys.     

Corrosion properties of Co-based cemented carbides in acidic solutions

The corrosion properties of cemented carbides with cobalt binder phase have been examined in HCl and H₂SO₄ solution at room temperature. Potentiodynamic polarization technique with saturated calomel reference electrode was employed in this study. Air and inert argon were used as a circulating media. The effect of magnetic saturation property of cemented carbide on corrosion behavior is described. Specimens were prepared in industrial sinter furnaces under various conditions to obtain different magnetic saturation at various binder contents. According to aerated experiment, there was a difference of anodic behavior of cemented carbides between HCl and H₂SO₄ solution. The specimen in H₂SO₄ solution shows lower current density than in HCl by up to two orders of magnitude. This can be explained by the effect of anion on corrosion behavior of cemented carbides. A large difference between aerated and deaerated acidic solution was not observed. There was a small change of polarization curve in cathodic regime due to different extent of cathodic reaction. In addition, free corrosion potential was slightly shifted to more noble values in aerated solution. In anodic polarization, both curves were almost identical. This shows that dissolved oxygen has small influence on anodic behavior of cemented carbides. Chronoamperometric measurement as well as electrochemical investigations showed that pseudopassivity is caused by a diffusion controlled process, which is in contradiction to literature where coverage of surface is claimed. Unstable precipitates are formed in cemented carbides with high tungsten containing binder during anodic dissolution.     

Preparation of Co powders for cemented carbides in China

Cobalt has been used as a supreme binder in cemented carbides. As the largest production nation of cemented carbides in the world, large amounts of cobalt powders, about 1200 tons in 2005, are consumed in China market. It is known that many factors, both in terms of composition and processing techniques, affect cemented carbides properties that are correlative with the ingredient, particle size, particle shape and microstructure of the cobalt powders. The studies on preparation of Co powders for cemented carbides in China are reviewed in this paper. The fabrication method, particle size and shape of cobalt powders are described and discussed according to the processing techniques. The typically chemical and physical properties of cobalt powders in Chinese production are introduced briefly. In order to further improve the cemented carbides quality, more research works on the microstructure and composition of doped alloying elements cobalt powders should be made in China in future.     

Possibilities of laser-beam joining cemented carbides to steel

Welded joints of cemented carbides with steel are commonly present in tool production, mainly those used in the machining and mining industry. The article presents possibilities of joining cemented carbides H10S and G10 with steel C45 using laser radiation. These are the first innovative experiments carried out in Poland. Joints between cemented carbides and steel were made both directly and using spacers between the materials to be joined, which were made of copper, triple-layer solder Ag49/Cu and nickel. The joining trials were carried out at the Laser Technology Centre of the Institute of welding in Gliwice. A Triumpf disc laser (λ = 1030 nm) Tru-Disc 12002 with output power of 12 kW was used for this purpose. The laser beam was focused mostly on the steel surface to avoid direct interaction between the laser beam and the structure of cemented carbides. The assessment of joints of cemented carbides with steel C45 was conducted on the basis of metallographic evaluation, EDX analyses and microhardness measurements.     

Corrosion-induced changes on Hertzian contact damage in cemented carbides

In this study, the influence of corrosion on the mechanical response and damage induced under Hertzian indentation is assessed for three cemented carbides with metallic binders of different chemical nature. Corrosion degradation is introduced in a controlled way, before subsequent spherical indentation testing, by immersing specimens in a stirred acidic medium. Results reveal quite strong corrosion effects on indentation stress-strain response and contact damage scenario. Such detrimental influence is found to be dependent on both the ratio between indentation depth and thickness of the corroded layer as well as chemical nature of the binder. In this regard, critical loads for emergence and evolution of specific damage events (i.e. ring and radial cracks, and even specimen failure) are proposed as figures of merit for material selection under the combined action of corrosion and contact loads. Within this context, the hardmetal grade with Co-base binder and addition of Cr is found to be the best option, among the three cemented carbides studied in this investigation. It points out the consideration of the synergic interaction between corrosion resistance and hardness/toughness correlation for microstructural design optimization of hardmetals under service-like conditions. These statements are supported by the relevant corrosion-induced changes also observed, by means of advanced characterization techniques, in terms of deformation/failure micromechanisms at both surface and subsurface levels.     

Separate assessment of porosity and uncombined carbon in cemented carbides

Porosity and uncombined carbon in cemented carbides are traditionally assessed by comparison to standardized microstructure charts, such as those in ISO 4505-1978. To improve the accuracy in the characterization a fully automatic image analysis procedure has been developed. The analysis is performed using light optical microscopy on unetched polished specimens. The implemented algorithm separates uncombined carbon, C-defects, from pores, A- and B-defects. Pores are approximately distributed in a random way in the structure. Uncombined carbon is on the other hand precipitated into clusters of carbon particles. This difference is together with defect size used as a base for the separation. Small defects situated close together are classified as C-defects, small isolated defects as A-pores and large defects as B-pores. Pores are found to be more round than the somewhat elongated C-defects. The difference in shape is significant and can also be used as a separation criterion.

Image analysis is used to quantitatively characterise the ISO 4505-1978 standard charts with respect to volume fraction, number density and size distribution of defects. The results are compared to measured distributions for true microstructures.     

超细晶粒硬质合金磨削的材料去除机理研究

在使用金刚石砂轮的平面磨床上进行了超细晶粒WC-Co硬质合金的磨削实验研究,通过扫描电子显微镜观察磨削表面形貌,利用X射线能谱仪进行磨削表面元素微区分析,对不同磨削条件下超细硬质合金的材料去除机理进行了研究。研究结果表明:超细硬质合金磨削过程中,随砂轮粒度的增大或切深的增加,材料去除方式渐由滑擦、耕犁向脆性断裂、材料粉末化转变。磨削表面黏结相分布受材料去除方式的影响,以耕犁方式去除的磨削表面Co相分布不均匀程度最大。     

On the three-dimensional structure of WC grains in cemented carbides

In the present work, the size distribution and shape of WC grains in cemented carbides (WC–Co), with different Co contents, have been investigated in three dimensions. Direct three-dimensional (3-D) measurements, using focused ion beam serial sectioning and electron backscattered diffraction (EBSD), were performed and a 3-D microstructure was reconstructed. These measurements were supplemented by two-dimensional (2-D) EBSD and scanning electron microscopy on extracted WC grains. The data from 2-D EBSD collected on planar sections were transformed to three dimensions using a recently developed statistical method based on an iterative inverse Saltykov procedure. This stereological analysis revealed that the assumed spherical shape of WC grains during the Saltykov method is reasonable and the estimated 3-D size distribution is qualitatively in good agreement with the actual distribution measured from 3-D EBSD. Although the spherical assumption is generally fair, the WC grains have both faceted and rounded surfaces. This is a consequence of the relatively low amount of liquid phase during sintering, which makes impingements significant. Furthermore, the observed terraced surface structure of some WC grains suggests that 2-D nucleation is the chief coarsening mechanism to consider.     

Influence of microstructure on ultraprecision grinding of cemented carbides

The influence of microstructure on the ultraprecision grinding response of a series of cemented carbides for spherical mirrors was characterized by means of optical and laser interferometry, atomic force microscopy, scanning electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction. Surface roughness, form accuracy, grinding-induced residual stress and material removal behaviors were studied as a function of tungsten carbide (WC) grain size. In connection with the removal mechanisms in ultraprecision grinding, microindentations performed on each material showed similar deformation patterns, all in the plastic regime. The microstructure of WC-Co materials was found to have little influence on the nanometre surface roughness and submicron form accuracy. However, the X-ray stress measurements indicated that the microstructure of carbide materials had a significant influence on the grinding-induced residual stresses; i.e. an increase in grinding-induced residual compressive stress with an decrease in WC grain size. No grinding-induced cracks were observed in the ground cemented carbide surfaces. The material removal in ultraprecision grinding was considered to occur within the ductile regime. The formation of microgrooves and plastic flow regions via slip bands of WC grains along the cobalt binder without visible resultant microfracturing of WC grains were the dominant removal mechanisms.     

Determination of the average grain size of cemented carbides

There are two standardised methods to determine the grain size from polished and etched cross-sections of cemented carbides, the linear intercept method and Jefferies method. Through two model experiments some disadvantages with the methods are highlighted. In the first experiment, the binder in a coarse grained cemented carbide is dissolved and the 3D grain size of the individual carbide grains are evaluated and compared to polished cross-sections by the two standardised methods. The results show that these two standardised methods give average grain sizes very different from each other and from the 3D grain size. Through the implementation of transformation factors a better correlation can be achieved. The second experiment involves hardness measurements and grain size measurements on cemented carbides containing wide binomial distributions. The lack of correlation between the average grain size based on the number of grains and the physical properties is demonstrated. From the findings of those experiments a new method to calculate the average grain size is proposed. The new method is based on the calculation of the volume (or mass) average of the frequency distribution.     

The characterization of cemented carbides by automated image analysis

In cemented carbides, important mechanical properties are influenced by the carbide grain size distribution. In this paper, an automated image analysis solution is described using a grain boundary reconstruction routine. In addition to size distribution, grain shape and contiguity were also measured. The largest grains found were validated by visual verification to confirm that they correspond to large individual tungsten carbide grains (and not to clusters of smaller grains). Cobalt percentage, which is also of interest, was also considered.     

Fatigue mechanics of WC–Co cemented carbides

The fracture and fatigue behavior of a fine-grained WC–10 wt% Co hardmetal is investigated. Mechanical characterization included flexural strength and fracture toughness as well as fatigue limit and fatigue crack growth (FCG) behavior under monotonic and cyclic loads, respectively. Considering that fatigue lifetime of cemented carbides is given by subcritical crack growth of preexisting defects, a linear elastic fracture mechanics (LEFM) approach is attempted to assess fatigue life–FCG relationships for these materials. Following the experimental finding of an extremely high dependence of FCG rates on the applied stress intensity for the hardmetal studied, the LEFM analysis is concentrated, from a practical design viewpoint, on addressing the fatigue limit–FCG threshold correlation under infinite fatigue life conditions. Thus, fatigue limit associated with natural flaws is estimated from FCG threshold experimentally determined for large cracks under the assumptions that (1) similitude on the FCG behavior of small and large cracks applies for cemented carbides, and (2) critical flaws are the same, in terms of nature, geometry and size, under monotonic and cyclic loading. The reliability of this fatigue mechanics approach is sustained through the excellent agreement observed between estimated and experimentally determined values for the fatigue limit under the different load ratios investigated.     

硬质合金轧辊在轧钢生产中的应用

为了满足用户对轧辊寿命和性能不断提高的要求 ,研制了含有较高和较低粘结相的硬质合金轧辊 ,并开发出复合硬质合金 (CIC)专利技术 ,应用于棒材、线材、无缝钢管及其他小型材生产 ,不仅具有良好的可加工性 ,而且寿命是普通铸铁轧辊的 2 0倍以上