WC-8Co and WC-5TiC-10Co Cemented Carbides Synthesized by Vacuum-Free Electric Arc Method

The paper presents experimental results of the tungsten carbide powder synthesis using the vacuum-free electric arc method and its application as a hard-alloy component. It is shown that the synthesized product consists of WC and W2C phases, and its pure form cannot be obtained by spark plasma sintering at 1200 & DEG;C. When titanium and cobalt carbide sinter additives are introduced in the initial mixture to obtain equivalents of commercial hard alloys (WC-8Co and WC-5TiC-10Co), their hardness is not lower than that of hard alloys based on other raw materials. It is thus shown that the tungsten carbide powder synthesized by the vacuum-free electric arc method can be used for the production of cemented carbides and construction materials.