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Low‐Temperature Spark Plasma Sintering of Pure Nano WC Powder
Author(s) -
Grasso Salvatore,
Poetschke Johannes,
Richter Volkmar,
Maizza Giovanni,
Sakka Yoshio,
Reece Michael J.
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
journal of the american ceramic society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.9
H-Index - 196
eISSN - 1551-2916
pISSN - 0002-7820
DOI - 10.1111/jace.12365
Subject(s) - spark plasma sintering , materials science , sintering , tungsten carbide , microstructure , fracture toughness , tungsten , metallurgy , carbide , atmospheric temperature range , grain growth , hot isostatic pressing , composite material , physics , meteorology
For the first time we have demonstrated the densification of high‐purity nanostructured (d avg ≈ 60 nm) tungsten carbide by High Pressure Spark Plasma Sintering ( HPSPS ) in the unusually low temperature range of 1200°C–1400°C. The high‐pressure sintering (i.e., 300 MPa) produced dense material at a temperature as low as 1400°C. In comparison with more conventional sintering techniques, such as SPS (80 MPa) or hot isostatic pressing, HPSPS lowered the temperature required for full densification by 400°C–500°C. High Pressure Spark Plasma Sintering, even in absence of any sintering aid or grain growth inhibitor, retained a very fine microstructure resulting in a significant improvement in both hardness (2721 HV 10 ) and fracture toughness (7.2 MPa m 1/2 ).