Low-temperature creep of binderless tungsten carbide with different grain sizes

TL;DR

This study investigates the creep mechanisms of binderless tungsten carbide with varying grain sizes, revealing how microstructure and W2C content influence activation energy and creep behavior under different conditions.

Contribution

It provides new insights into how grain size and W2C fraction affect creep activation energy and rates in tungsten carbide, using SPS-sintered samples with detailed microstructural analysis.

Findings

W2C fraction increase decreases Qcr from 17.5 to 13 kTm.

Qcr in nanopowder-sintered WC is about 31 kTm, higher than UFG samples.

Creep rate is influenced by both surface layer diffusion and grain boundary diffusion.

Abstract

The creep mechanism in the compression testing of the tungsten carbide with different grain sizes has been studied. The WC samples with high density (96.1-99.2%) were obtained by SPS from nano-, submicron, and micron-grade WC powders. The samples had a coarse-grained (CG) surface layers of ~0.3 mm in thickness and ultrafine-grained (UFG) central parts consisting of WC with a small fraction of W2C. The creep tests were conducted in two regimes: (Mode #1) holding at different temperatures (1300-1375C) at 70 MPa; (Mode #2) tests at different stresses (50, 70, 90 MPa) at 1325C. Tests in Mode #1 were done to determine the effective creep activation energy Qcr while tests in Mode #2 - to determine the coefficient n in the power law creep equation. The increasing of the fraction of the W2C particles from 1.7 up to 4% was found to result in a decrease in the Qcr from 17.5 down to 13 kTm. The coefficient n equals to 3.1-3.7. The Qcr in the WC sintered from nanopowders was shown to be 31 kTm. This value is 1.5-2 times greater than the Qcr in the UFG samples obtained by SPS from commercial powders. The increased fraction of the W2C formed when sintering the nanopowders with increased adsorbed oxygen concentration was suggested to be one of the origins of the increase in the Qcr when testing the UFG samples. The mechanical removing of the CG layers from the surfaces of the tungsten carbide sample was shown to result in an accelerated creep, insufficient decrease in the Qcr and coefficient n to 2.5-2.6. The creep rate of the samples was suggested to be determined simultaneously by the creep process in the CG surface layers and the creep process in the UFG central parts of the samples. The creep rate in the surface CG layers is determined by intensity of carbon diffusion in the WC crystal lattice while the creep rate in the UFG central parts - by the intensity of grain boundary diffusion.