A novel rapid route for synthesizing WC–Co bulk by in situ reactions in spark plasma sintering

A novel rapid route for preparing WC–Co cemented carbides bulk, which integrated the synthesis of the composite powder by in situ reactions and subsequent consolidation in the spark plasma sintering (SPS) system, was proposed. The phase configurations both in the synthesized composite powder and in the sintered bulk were analyzed in details. It was shown that the obtained WC–Co bulk has a homogeneous and fine-grained structure and good combined mechanical properties. As compared with the conventional methods, the present preparation route has been remarkably simplified. Particularly, with the greatly reduced temperature and time in the preparation procedures, it is effective to control the grain coarsening during the processes. By taking into account the characteristics of the SPS technology, the formation mechanism of the WC–Co composite by in situ reduction and carbonization reactions was proposed.