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°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.