Budget: 112.000 €
Sectoral Group: EuroHM
Contractors: Fraunhofer IKTS, CEIT
The standard composition for hardmetals or cemented carbides is tungsten carbide (WC) with a metallic binder consisting solely of Cobalt (Co) due to resulting excellent properties of this combination. However, there is an increasing incentive to reduce or completely substitute Cobalt for multiple reasons. Cobalt is classified as a CMR material hazardous to health as well as a critical raw material due to the high importance of this material combined with high risk associated with its supply. The increasing demand of Co for use in batteries of electrical vehicles has recently contributed price hikes of Co powder.
The aim of this project is to compare the use of prealloyed (PA) metal binder powders with mixtures of elemental powders when preparing hardmetals with alternative binders using standard PM processing techniques. Two metallic binders will be selected from three alternatives:
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high entropy alloy (HEA) FeNiCoCuMn binder or
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medium entropy alloy (MEA) FeNiCoCr binder. As reference
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Cr-doped Co binder will also be studied.
Amongst the scientific/technological questions to be answered are:
- Which is the effect of PA powders on powder processing prior to sintering?
(i.e. milling and compaction) - How do PA binders change the sintering behavior? (e.g. carbon windows, solubilities, shrinkage, melting, mass losses due to oxide reduction, evaporation etc.)
- What is the final microstructure and relevant mechanical properties? (HV, K1c, TRS)
Documents: