WC-Co cemented carbides were consolidated using spark plasma sintering in the temperature 1400°C with transition metal carbides addition. The densification depended on exponentially as a function of sintering exponent. Moreover, the secondary (M, W)Cx phases were formed at the grain boundaries of WC basal facet. Corresponded, to increase the basal facets lead to the plastic deformation and oriented grain growth. A higher hardness was correlated with their grain size and lattice strain. We suggest that this is due to the formation energy of (M, W)Cx attributed to inhibit the grain growth and separates the WC/Co interface.

In this study, a novel composite was fabricated by adding the Hafnium diboride (HfB2) to conventional WC-Co cemented carbides to enhance the high-temperature properties while retaining the intrinsic high hardness. Using spark plasma sintering, high density (up to 99.4%) WC-6Co-(1, 2.5, 4, and 5.5 wt. %) HfB2 composites were consolidated at 1300℃ (100℃/min) under 60 MPa pressure. The microstructural evolution, oxidation layer, and phase constitution of WC-Co-HfB2 were investigated in the distribution of WC grain and solid solution phases by X-ray diffraction and FE-SEM. The WC-Co-HfB2 composite exhibited improved mechanical properties (approximately 2,180.7 kg/mm2) than those of conventional WC-Co cemented carbides. The high strength of the fabricated composites was caused by the fine-grade HfB2 precipitate and the solid solution, which enabled the tailoring of mechanical properties.

This research describes effects of Si addition on microstructure and mechanical properties of the Al-Cr based alloys prepared manufactured using gas atomization and SPS (Spark Plasma Sintering) processes. The Al-Cr-Si bulks with high Cr and Si content were produced successfully using SPS sintering process without crack and obtained fully dense specimens close to nearly 100% T. D. (Theoretical Density). Microstructure of the as-atomized Al-Cr-Si alloys with high contents of Cr and Si was composed multi-phases with hard and thermally stable such as Al13Cr4Si4, AlCrSi, Al8Cr5 and Cr3Si intermetallic compounds. The average hardness values were 703 Hv for S5, 698 Hv for S10 and 824 Hv for S20 alloy. Enhancement of hardness value was resulted from the formation of the multi-intermetallic compound with hard and thermally stable and fine microstructure by the addition of high Cr and Si using rapid solidification and SPS process.