Fast Consolidation of WC–Co

Commercial tungsten carbide (WC) was coated with cobalt (Co) using a chemical precipitation technique. The coated powders were characterised for chemical composition and uniformity of coating. TEM and SEM were used to observe the nature of the cobalt coating on WC particles. The coated powders were consolidated to near theoretical densities under varying temperature and pressure conditions using the plasma pressure compaction (P²C) technique in about 3 min. The consolidated samples were characterised by measuring transverse rupture strength, hardness, and microstructure. A maximum Vickers hardness of 2400 and transverse rupture strength of 2500 MPa was obtained for a sample consolidated at 1600°C and 40 MPa.