Structure/property relationships in sintered and thermally sprayed WC-Co

Thermally sprayed WC-Co is widely used as a wear-resistant coating for a variety of applications. Although it is well established that thermal spray processes significantly affect chemistry, microstructure, and the phase distribution of WC-Co coatings, little is known about how these changes influence wear resistance. In this study, the microstructure and wear behavior of sintered and thermally sprayed WC-Co materials are examined. Powders of WC-12 wt% Co and WC-17 wt% Co were pressed and sintered, as well as thermally sprayed by high-velocity oxy-fuel (HVOF), air plasma spray (APS), and vacuum plasma spray (VPS) techniques. Results indicated considerable differences in the resulting microstructures, mechanical properties, and wear resistance. The thermally sprayed coatings showed anisotropic fracture toughness, whereas the sintered materials did not. It was also shown that a combined mechanical property/microstructure parameter, based on considerations of indentation fracture mechanisms, can be used in most cases to describe abrasive and erosive wear resistance of thermally sprayed WC-Co materials as follows: Wear resistance a {Mathematical expression} where K _ic is the indentation fracture toughness, H is hardness, and V ^Co _f is the volume fraction of cobalt. This relationship provides a means for assessing wear resistance of WC-Co coatings intended for industrial applications requiring abrasion and/or erosion resistance.