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Role of NbC Grain Growth Inhibitor on Microstructure and Hardness of WC-Stainless Steel Hard Metals

In this work, 10 wt.% stainless steel (AISI304, FeCrNi) was used as a binder in WC-based hardmetal. Graphite powder (2 wt.%) was added in the mixture to avoid the formation of η-phase ((MW)6C) during sintering. NbC with 1, 1.5, 2 and 5 wt.% was used as WC grain growth inhibitor. The sintering process was done in a vacuum furnace at 1300°C for 1h. The results showed that there was no formation of η-phase or free graphite after sintering indicating the suitability of added graphite. Increasing the NbC contents resulted in decreasing of WC grains. 2 wt.% NbC was considered to be the optimal content for fine microstructure and uniform WC grain distribution. The highest hardness was achieved at 2 wt.% NbC with HV30 of 1660 kg/mm2. However, higher amount of added NbC (5 wt.%) caused the existence of coarse (Nb,W)C grains which decreasing the hardness.