Effect of FeAl3 on properties of (W,Ti)C–FeAl3 hard materials consolidated by a pulsed current activated sintering method

Using a pulsed current activated sintering (PCAS) method, the densification of (W,Ti)C and (W,Ti)C–FeAl3 hard materials was accomplished within 3 min. The advantage of this process is not only rapid densification to near theoretical density, but also prevention of grain growth in nano-structured materials. Highly dense (W,Ti)C and (W,Ti)C–FeAl3 with a relative density up to 99% were obtained within 3 min by PCAS under a pressure of 80 MPa. The average grain size of the (W,Ti)C was less than 100 nm. Hardness and fracture toughness of the dense (W,Ti)C and (W,Ti)C–FeAl3 produced by PCAS were also investigated. The fracture toughness and hardness values of (W,Ti)C, (W,Ti)C–5 vol.% FeAl3, and (W,Ti)C–10 vol.% FeAl3 consolidated by PCAS were 7.5 MPa m1/2 and 2650 kg/mm2, 10.5 MPa m1/2 and 2480 kg/mm2, 11 MPa m1/2 and 2300 kg/mm2, respectively.