Applied Sciences (Sep 2018)

Effect of WC Nanoparticles on the Microstructure and Properties of WC-Bronze-Ni-Mn Based Diamond Composites

  • Siqi Li,
  • Zhe Han,
  • Qingnan Meng,
  • Xinzhe Zhao,
  • Xin Cao,
  • Baochang Liu

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3390/app8091501
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 8, no. 9
p. 1501

Abstract

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Metal matrix-impregnated diamond composites are widely used for fabricating diamond tools. In order to meet the actual engineering challenges, researchers have made many efforts to seek effective methods to enhance the performance of conventional metal matrices. In this work, tungsten carbide (WC) nanoparticles were introduced into WC-Bronze-Ni-Mn matrix with and without diamond grits for improving the performance of conventional impregnated diamond composites. The influence of WC nanoparticles on the microstructure, densification, hardness, bending strength and wear resistance of matrix and diamond composites were investigated. The results showed that the bending strength of matrix increased up to approximately 20% upon nano-WC addition, while densification and hardness fluctuate slightly. The grinding ratio of diamond composites increased significantly by about 100% due to nano-WC addition. The strengthening mechanism was proposed according to experimental results. The diamond composites with 2.8 wt% nano-WC addition exhibited the best overall properties, thus having potential to apply to further diamond tools.

Keywords