2025 №09 (03) |
DOI of Article 10.37434/tpwj2025.09.04 |
2025 №09 (05) |

The Paton Welding Journal, 2025, #9, 33-38 pages
Effect of modes of electron beam treatment of powder blanks from hard alloys on formation of the microstructure and properties of sintered products
M.O. Sysoiev1, V.M. Nesterenkov1, V.M. Bondar2, H.P. Kysla3
1E.O. Paton Electric Welding Institute of the NASU. 11 Kazymyr Malevych Str., 03150, Kyiv, Ukraine. E-mail: sysoiev.maksym@tve.com.ua2East Ukrainian Volodymyr Dahl National University 17 John Paul II Str., 01042, Kyiv, Ukraine
3PlasmaTec LLC, 18 Pravednykiv Svitu Str., 21036, Vinnytsia, Ukraine
Abstract
The results of the study of the influence of the cooling rate on the structure and properties of the VK8 hard alloy produced by the electron beam sintering method are presented. The use of an electron beam provides high controllability of the heat treatment processes, which allows regulating the cooling rate of hard alloy specimens. The tungsten carbide powder produced by PlasmaTec LLC by a chemical method from secondary raw materials was used in the work. The presence of two phases — tungsten carbide and a cobalt-based β-solid solution was revealed by metallographic and X-ray analysis methods. There is no η-phase, free carbon or pores in the structure. It is shown that tungsten carbide crystals grow with an increase in cooling time. In terms of hardness and crack resistance, hard alloys produced by the electron beam sintering method are not inferior to hard alloys produced by the conventional technologies.
Keywords: hard alloy, electron beam sintering, tungsten carbide, cooling rate, grain size
Received: 28.04.2025
Received in revised form: 03.06.2025
Accepted: 16.09.2025
References
1. Upadhyaya, G.S. (2001) Materials science of cemented carbides — An overview. Materials & Design, 22(6), 483–489. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/S0261-3069(01)00007-32. Zak Fang, Xu Wang, Taegong Ryu et al. (2009) Synthesis, sintering and mechanical properties of nanocrystallaine cemented tungsten carbide — A review. Inter. J. of Refractory Metals and Hard Materials, 27(2), 288–299. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijrmhm.2008.07.011
3. Falkovsky, V.A., Klyachko, L.I. (2005) Hard alloys. Moscow, Publ. House Ruda i Metally [in Russian].
4. Kharchenko, O.V., Prokopiv, M.M., Serdyuk, Yu.D. (2010) Structure of hard alloys of the WC‒Co group after aggregation in a gaseous medium. Sverkhtviordye Materialy, 2, 96–98 [in Ukrainian].
5. Bondarenko, V.P., Pavlotskaya, E.G. (1995) Sintering of tungsten hard alloys in a precision-controlled gas environment. Kyiv, Naukova Dumka [in Russian].
6. Chen, H., Zwang, D., Li, Y., Chen, J. (2001) High performance sinter — HIP for hard metals. In: Proc. of 15 Inter. Plansee Seminar, Reutte, Austria, 2, 180–188.
7. Chongbin Wei, Xiaoyan Song, Shixian Zhao et al. (2010) In-situ synthesis of WC–Co composite powder and densification by sinter-HIP. Inter. J. of Refractory Metals and Hard Materials, 28(5), 567–571. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijrmhm.2010.04.002
8. Kui Liu, Zhenhua Wang, Zengbin Yin et al. (2018) Effect of Co content on microstructure and mechanical properties of ultrafine grained WC–Co cemented carbide sintered by spark plasma sintering. Ceramics Inter., 44(15), 18711–18718. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ceramint.2018.07.100
9. Breval, E., Cheng, J.P., Agrawal, D.K. et al. (2005) Comparison between microwave and conventional sintering of WC/Co composites. Materials Sci. and Eng.: A, 391(1‒2), 285–295. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.msea.2004.08.085
10. Hwan-Cheol Kim, In-Jin Shon, In-Kyoon Jeong et al. (2007) Rapid sintering of ultrafine WC and WC–Co hard materials by high-frequency induction heated sintering and their mechanical properties. Metals and Materials Inter., 13, 39–45. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03027821
11. Chaporova, I.N., Chernyavsky, K.S. (1975) Structure and properties of sintered hard alloys. Moscow, Metallurgiya [in Russian]
12. Farag, S., Konyashin, I., Ries, B. (2018) The influence of grain growth inhibitors on the microstructure and properties of submicron, ultrafine and nano-structured hardmetals — A review. Inter. J. of Refractory Metals and Hard Materials, 77, 2–30. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijrmhm.2018.07.003
13. Atefeh, A., Javad, R.S.M., Zohreh, S., Filippo, B. (2020) A review of additive manufacturing of cermets. Additive Manufacturing, 33, 101130. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.addma.2020.101130
14. Yang,Y.K., Zhang, C.Q., Wang, D.Y. et al. (2020) Additive manufacturing of WC–Co hardmetals: a review. The Inter. J. of Advanced Manufacturing Technology, 108, 1653–1673. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00170-020-05389-5
15. Loshak, M.G. (1986) Strength and durability of hard alloys. Kyiv, Naukova Dumka [in Russian].
16. Farag, S., Konyashin, I., Ries, B. (2018) The influence of grain growth inhibitors on the microstructure and properties of submicron, ultrafine and nano-structured hardmetals — A review. Inter. J. of Refractory Metals and Hard Materials, 77, 12–30. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijrmhm.2018.07.003