Quantum mechanics basis of quality control in hard metals

TL;DR

This paper introduces a quantum mechanics-based method to relate magnetic saturation to binder phase composition in cemented carbides, enabling non-destructive quality control and exploration of new materials.

Contribution

It provides a general quantum relation for magnetic saturation in binder phases and validates it with ab-initio calculations and experimental data.

Findings

Excellent agreement between theory and experiment for 85Ni15Fe alloy

Method applicable to various binder phases for quality control

Enables efficient exploration of new binder materials

Abstract

Non-destructive and reliable quality control methods are a key aspect to designing, developing and manufacturing new materials for industrial applications and new technologies. The measurement of the magnetic saturation is one of such methods and it is conventionally employed in the cemented carbides industry. We present a general quantum mechanics based relation between the magnetic saturation and the components of the binder phase of cemented carbides, which can be directly employed as a quality control. To illustrate our results, we calculate the magnetic saturation of a binder phase, 85Ni15Fe binary alloy, using ab-initio methods and compare the theoretical predictions to the magnetic saturation measurements. We also analyse interface and segregation effects on the magnetic saturation by studying the electronic structure of the binder phase. The excellent agreement between calculations and measurements demonstrates the applicability of our method to any binder phase. Since the magnetic saturation is employed to ensure the quality of cemented carbides, the present method allows us to explore new materials for alternative binder phases efficiently