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Discover the world of cemented carbides

The A-Z of cemented carbides

Cemented carbide has been valued as an excellent solution for metal processing and rock drilling tools for decades. More recently, these materials have also proven themselves in many other applications.

Ideally, tools and components should be developed together with the cemented carbide manufacturer’s engineers and application specialists.

For high-cost industrial systems or premium machinery in particular, the use of cemented carbide can significantly reduce the downtimes caused by part failure due to wear. As a result, it also significantly increases the availability of the machinery, as well as boosting process reliability.

What is cemented carbide?

Cemented carbide is a sintered material that consists of extremely hard carbides like tungsten carbide (WC) bonded in a metallic matrix.

The base structure of cemented carbide is formed by tungsten carbide as the hard material and cobalt (Co) as the binder material. As well as these two substances, cemented carbide includes various other carbides like TiC and TaC, which deliver benefits in specific applications.

The main properties of cemented carbide (hardness, ductile strength and wear resistance) are determined by the combination of the cobalt content and the grain size of the tungsten carbide.

Properties & benefits

Ductile strength

Essentially, the term ductile strength can be defined as the ability of a material to resist fracture. Compared to other metallic materials, cemented carbide is towards the bottom of the ductile strength scale, broadly comparable to hardened steel.

Ductile strength properties vary greatly among the various types of cemented carbide. It can be described as a brittle material, as there is no plastic deformation before fracturing.

Hardness

The hardness of cemented carbide is determined via the Vickers indentation process. This uses the force of a 30 kg weight (294 N) to create a measurable indentation on a surface via a defined diamond.

The lower the binding material content and grain size, the greater the hardness of the cemented carbide component. The level of achievable hardness ranges from 700 HV 30 to approximately 2,200 HV 30.

Pressure resistance

One of the most impressive properties of cemented carbides is their extremely high pressure resistance against uni-axial load. The lower the binding material content and grain size, the greater the pressure resistance of the cemented carbide component. A cemented carbide variety with a small tungsten carbide grain size and low binder metal content has a typical pressure resistance of approximately 7,000 N/mm².

Density

Due to the high density of tungsten carbide (15.7 g/cm³), the material density in the end product will be at least 50% to 100% greater than that of steel. Cemented carbide parts are heavier as a result, which must be taken into account in design if the weight of the workpiece is critical to the application.

Corrosion resistance

Corrosion on a cemented carbide part leads to a reduction of the binder metal content on the surface. All that is left on the affected area is a carbide skeleton. As this severely weakens the bond between the individual cemented carbides, it makes the workpiece vulnerable to destructive forces and can lead to premature failure.

This can be counteracted by substituting the cobalt binder material with nickel. Using nickel as a binder material significantly improves corrosion resistance without significantly impairing the physical properties.

Wear performance

Reducing wear on components subject to severe stress is a key element of countless applications. Using cemented carbide can significantly increase the durability and service life of the affected components.

Thanks to the many possibilities of modern cemented carbide production in virtually all geometries, this material is the ideal choice in many applications for users that want to improve wear performance.

We are here to help – from the geometric design or modification of your parts to finding the right material for the job at hand.

The importance of wear resistance

By far the most important property of cemented carbide is its resistance to wear. Many industrial processes involve abrasion between two different materials, with one of them always wearing prematurely.

Thanks in part to its excellent design flexibility, using cemented carbide can be an excellent way to significantly reduce premature or unplanned wear.

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