Effect of the Cooling Rateduring Melt Solidification on the Structure and Properties of WC-W₂C

Abstract

The paper examines the effect of the cooling rate on the structure, phase composition, size of coherent scattering domains, and stress–strain state of relit commercially used to strengthen machine parts and mechanisms that perform under abrasive wear and high contact loads. Optical and scanning electron microscopy, quantitative X-ray diffraction, and X-ray powder diffraction have been employed to reveal that higher cooling rates during melt solidification decrease the sizes of phase components in the 20 wt.% WC–80 wt.% W₂C alloy and increase compressive stresses in the W₂C matrix phase and tensile stresses in WC inclusions, improving the hardness of relit (by 1.5 times).