Fabrication, microstructure and mechanical properties of novel cemented hard alloy obtained by mechanical alloying and hot-pressing sintering

A novel cemented carbides alloy (W0.4Al0.6)C0.65–Co were prepared by mechanical alloying and hot-pressing sintering in this work. Hot-pressing (HP) as a common technique was performed to fabricate the bulk bodies of the hard alloys. The hardness, bending strength, density of the novel hard alloy are also tested, and it has superior mechanical properties. The hardness of (W0.4Al0.6)C0.65–Co hard alloy was very high, and the density, operate cost of the novel material were much lower than WC–Co, more important is the aluminum dissolving is not decrease the strength compared with the WC–Co system. There is almost no η-phase in the (W0.4Al0.6)C0.65–Co cemented carbides system even the carbon deficient reaches the astonishing value of 35%. This novel property will give us more choice to design and gain new materials that we needed.