Electric-spark alloying of steels with WC-Co hard metals

Conclusions A study was made of the electroerosion and cathode weight increase accompanying the ESA of steels with WC-Co hard metals and of some properties of resultant alloyed layers. In ESA the best results are obtained with VK20 alloy under soft conditions and with VK15 alloy under hard condition. The optimum alloying time is 5–10 min/cm² in process No. 2 and 3–5 min/cm² in process No. 5. Under these conditions ESA by the soft process (with VK20 alloy) ensures the formation of a hard (2200 kgf/mm²) white layer of the same thickness (40 m).Translated from Poroshkovaya Metallurgiya, No. 8(212), pp. 67–71, August, 1980.