Effect of SiC addition on mechanical and wear characteristics of WC-32(W-Ti)C-6Co cemented carbides

The effect of silicon carbide (SiC) addition on mechanical and wear properties of cemented carbides was investigated in this study. Different percentages (1-7 wt. %) of SiC were added to the cemented carbides mixture of WC/32 wt. % (Ti–W) C/6 wt. % Co. The microstructural characteristics of the developed materials was identified using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and Rockwell–A macrohardness (HRA), Vickers microhardness (Hv) as well as transverse rupture strength (TRS) were measured. The experimental results revealed that inserting SiC inclusion into the cemented carbides is found to be useless for two reasons. First, the microstructure of the developed carbides has more aggregations of largely contiguous SiC grains led to presence of rich/poor regions and consequently poor compatibility between carbides and the binder. Second, all properties of the cemented carbides greatly declined with the addition of SiC particles.