SINTERED HARDMETALS

Abstract: Spinodally-decomposing mixed crystals of zirconium and titanium carbides, possibly including carbonitrides and optionally including one or more carbides of metals of Group Va of the Periodic Table of the Elements, are used in making sintered hardmetals based on tungsten carbide. One or more iron group metals or alloys, preferably cobalt or a nickel alloy, is or are used as a binder. The sintered hardmetals are made by a 2-stage process, mixed crystal material comprising zirconium and titanium carbides being formed in the first stage and being combined with the binder and tungsten carbide in the second stage. Process variations which encourage spinodal decomposition of the mixed crystal material are also disclosed.

Description: 1 - SINTERED HARDMETALS DESCRIPTION This invention relates to sintered hard¬ metals, which are mixed carbides of metals selected from Groups IVa to Via of the Periodic Table of the Elements and possibly other metals, in conjunction with binder metals or alloys of the iron group. The hardmetals of-the invention concern, in particular, tungsten carbide from Group Via and the carbides of zirconium and titanium from Group IVa, optionally together with carbides of metals of Group Va. The extreme hardness and wear-resistance of hardmetals generally make them very suitable for use as tools or tool tips, for use in machine tools, and for dies and components generally where wear-resistance is essential. Hardmetals for the machining of materials producing short chips have consisted of tungsten carbide, WC, with cobalt as the customary iron group metal or alloy as a binder, for over five decades. For the machining of materials producing long chips, beneficial additions of titanium carbide, TiC, and tantalum carbide, TaC, have been used over the past three to four decades, leading to development and use of the now classic WC-TiC-Co and WC-TiC-TaC-Co hard - 2 - 1 metals. As- substitutes for TaC, " niobium carbide, NbC, hafnium carbide, HfC, and NbC/HfC mixed crystals have achieved a certain significance, whilst C appears to be at least partly replaceable by isomorphous phases, 5 such as MoC, MoCC,Nl and (Mo,W) (C,N] , i.e. molybdenum carbide and carbonitride and mixed molybdenum/tungsten carbonitrides. Partial replacement of TiC and TaC by VC and CrC has, up to now, been accompanied by very little success. 10 A review of hardmetal literature has shown • that, as well as the immiscible systems VC-ZrC and VC- HfC, fully miscible systems having irascibility gaps are also known, for example TiC-ZrC, TiC-HfC, VC-NbC and VC-TaC. These mixed crystal systems undergo spinodal 15 decomposition, but this property of these mixed crystals has not yet been used in hardmetal technology. Our prior discovery of the advantageous properties of mixed crystals of zirconium and hafnium carbides, described and claimed in " our GB-PA 7940140 (.Specification Serial 20 No. ) has enabled spinodally-decomposing systems of these carbides to be applied in hardmetal technology; our aforesaid specification discloses sintered hardmetal and processes for making them, which contain zirconium and hafnium carbides in mixed crystal form together with 25 one or more carbides of metals of Groups IV to VI and a binder comprising one or more metals or alloys of the iron group. It has now been surprisingly found that additions of spinodally-decomposing complex mixed 30. crystals based on ZrC and TiC and, optionally, one or more Group Va metal carbides to hard metals based on tungsten carbide produce very abrasion-resistant and fin grained hardmetal materials, which are eminently suitabl for making cutting tools. These hardmetals and tools 35 made from them are superior to classical C-TiC-TaC-Co - 3 - alloys both in respect of flank wear and crater wear. Hardmetals containing ZrC have long been studied, especially with respect to the substitution of TiC by ZrC in WC-TiC-Co alloys. The ZrC is introduced as a ZrC- C mixed crystal. Results are not encouraging, as an amount of ZrC twice that of the TiC has to be added to achieve a hardmetal of similar performance. Investigation into the partial replace¬ ment of TiC by ZrC has been considered, but has not been carried out up to now. According to a first aspect of this invention, a sintered hardmetal comprises tungsten carbide, spinodally-decomposing mixed crystal containing zir¬ conium and titanium carbides and a binder comprising one or more metals or alloys of the iron group. According to an especially preferred feature of the invention, the spinodally-decomposing mixed crystal also includes one or more carbides of metals of Group Va, especially one or more of the carbides -of niobium, tantalum and vanadium. According to a second aspect of this invention, a sintered hardmetal is manufactured by heating a first mixture comprising zirconium and titanium carbides and optionally one or more carbides of metals of Group Va under such conditions that the resultant first product comprises mixed crystal capable of spinodally decomposing, forming a second mixture from the first product in comminuted form, tungsten carbide with or without at least one other hardmetal material and one or more metals or alloys of the iron group and heating the second mixture under such conditions that the resultant second product comprises a sintered hardmetal comprising spinodally- decomposed mixed crystal. The invention also resides in tools, tool - 4 - tips, dies or components made from sintered hardmetals of the invention. Preferably, the amount of spinodally- decomposing mixed crystal incorporated into the sintered hardmetals of the invention lies in the range from 2% to 40% and, most preferably, in the range from to 30%; these amounts and all amounts stated below are given by weight. In accordance with an especially important preferred feature of the invention, the relative - amounts of ZrC and TiC in the mixed crystal material incorporated in the products of the invention lie in tlxe range, in molar proportions, from 5% to 80% ZrC to 95% to 20% TiC. It is also possible, according; to another preferred feature of the invention fc for he mixed crystal material to contain hafnium carbide; when present, HfC can constitute up to 40% by weight of the ZrC content of the mixed crystal material. The sintered hardmetals of this invention have been derived from investigations which indicate that it is only th.e addition of a spinodally-decomposin mixed crystal, based upon zirconium and titanium carbides and optionally containing one or more Group Va metal carbides and/or HfC, which produces a noticeable success. In the final sintered hardmetal based on WC, ZrC-TiC mixed crystal and a binder, a cubic ZrC-TiC mixed crystal rich in TiC is found, side- by-side with- a cubic ZrC-TiC mixed crystal rich in ZrC. After sintering, the first phase contains up to 20% WC in solid solution and . the latter phase up to 10% WC in solid solution. Machining performance and crater-resistance of these alloys are satisfactory, but it was felt tha .toughness left something to be desired, as it amounted only to 80% - 90% of that of the classical WC-TiC-Co hardmetal. Further investigati - 5 - involved the effect of introducing one or more Group Va metal carbides (VC, NbC or TaC, especially, NbC) into the ZrC-TiC mixed crystal, preferably in the amount of 3% - 30%, and it was discovered, also surprisingly, that this produces an increase in bend strength of 15% - 25%. However, it has also been found that, by increasing the addition of the one or more Group Va metal carbides ' to the ZrC-TiC mixed crystal to about 35% - 50%, the miscibility gap closes, thus losing the grain-refining effect ' of the spinodal decomposition. Even so, the addition of Group Va metal carbides in these higher amounts still has a positive effect, though no longer an optimum one; in view of the desirability of maintaining a- miscibility gap to some extent, it is preferable for the amount of mixed crystal to be not more than 40% in most cases. With regard to the addition of one or more Group Va metal carbides, it is preferable always to add VC together with-NbC and/or TaC in the proportion of 1:4 to 1:10, so as to maintain- grain-refinement and increase in hardness without loss of toughness. NbC and TaC have similar effects, but NbC is preferred due to its lower specific gravity and its appreciably cheaper cost. The following three examples illustrate the in- vention, though they are not intended to be limitative in effect. Amounts are given in parts by weight or percentages by weight. EXAMPLE 1 For the machining of materials producing mainly short chips and for parts subject to abrasion, an alloy of 2.5% ZrC, 1.5% TiC, 0.2% VC, 0.8% NbC and 5% Co, remainder WC, was produced. In the first stage of the process of manufacture, a mixed crystal was prepared by mixing 50 parts ZrC, ^T EΛ - 6 - 30 parts TiC, 4 parts VC and 16 parts NbC, all in the o form of fine powder, and heating for 2 hours at 2100 C. The resultant comminuted cubic mixed crystal, grain size 2-3μ, was found to be homogeneous when subjected to x-ray crystallographic examination. 5% of this mixed crystal product was mixed with 90% of WC ( ly ) - and 5% Co, to form a second mixture, which was then wet-milled under alcohol, dried, pressed and sintered under vacuum for 1 hour at 1450 - 25 C. The resulting product was found to have a hardness of 1700 VH and a bend strength of 150 - + 10 kp/mm " 2. X-ray examination of the carbides in the product showed the presence of hexagonal WC and two cubic phases, one rich in ZrC and the other rich in TiC. _E___X______A________M___—P—LE«—2_> * * For general use, an alloy of 5% ZrC, 5% TiC, 3% NbC, 79% WC and 8% Co was produced. In a ' first stage, a cubic mixed crystal product was prepared by wet-milling 5-parts of ZrC, 5 parts TiC, 3 parts NbC, 1.5 parts WC and 0.1 part Co, followed by drying, pressing and heating for 1 hour at 1950° - 50°C, giving a homogeneous cubic mixed crystal.. The amount of WC included in the first mixture corresponded approximately to the amount which would eventually ente the cubic mixed crystals on final sintering. The Co addition serves to accelerate mixed crystal formation by eutectic film development on the carbide surfaces. In a second stage, 14.6 parts of the comminuted mixed crystal product were then wet-milled under acetone, after being incorporated into a second mixture with 8 parts of Co and 77.4 parts WC, the milled produc then being dried, pressed and sintered under vacuum at 1425 - 25 C. The_ resulting hardmetal had a hardness of 1550 - 1600 VH and a bend strength of 160-180 kp/mm 2 As in the case of the alloy (1) of Example 1, phase - 7 - examination showed three carbide phases, i.e. the hexagonal WC and two cubic phases, together with the cubic Co phase. EXAMPLE 3 For the machining of materials producing long chips, an alloy of 12% TiC, 8% ZrC, 7% NbC, 3% TaC, 10% (Mo,W) CC,N) , 52% WC and 8% Co was produced, care being taken once more that the cubic TiC-ZrC-NbC-TaC mixed crystal produced from the initial .mixture was homogeneous under X-ray examination and that, during the final sintering, it decomposed as completely as possible. The decomposition was promoted by the inclusion of the hexagonal CMo,W) (C,N) , which caused a partial nitrogen- carbon exchange with the cubic phase during the final sintering. The cubic mixed crystal was produced in a first stage by fine-milling a first mixture of 12 parts TiC, 8 parts ZrC, 7 parts NbC and 3 parts TaC and sintering for 2\ hours at 2000° - 100°C. This yielded 30 parts of finely-milled cubic mixed crystal,.which in the second phase were mixed with 52 parts hexagonal WC, 10 parts hexagonal CMo,W) (C,N) and 8 parts Co. The milling in the second stage was effected under alcohol, followed by spray-drying under nitrogen. Pressings were made and then sintered under vacuum or under a low nitrogen pressure, e.g. 80 mm. Where the sintered products showed the microporosity associated with nitrogen, they were then hot isostatically re-pressed at 1400 C under an argon pressure of 500 atms. The hardness of the sintered articles was 1700 - 50 VH and the 2 bend strength ranged from 140 to 180 kp/mm . The machining life of the resultant alloy was similar to that of standard P 10 alloy, but the amount of cratering was only 60% - 70%. of the standard. The invention is based upon the discovery of a fine- - 8 - grained, four-phase, crater-resistant hardmetal, using the miscibility gap in the system TiC-ZrC, and as indicated above is not confined to the examples describe Thus, in accordance with a further feature, up to 40% of hexagonal WC phase can be replaced by other hexagonal phase materials, such as Mo(C,N), (Mo,W) (C,N) and (Mo,W ) and similarly, up to 40% of the ZrC- can be replaced by HfC. In the systems TiC-HfC and TiC-ZrC-HfC, miscibilit gaps also appear below 2Q00°C. Also substitution of carbon in the ' cubic phase is possible, by e.g. up to 20%, preferably up to 10% of nitrogen. A lightly nitrided (Ti-Zr-NblC mixed crystal, for instance has been shown to be very propitious for the desired spinodal de¬ composition. Cobalt has proved beneficial as the iron group metal or alloy binder for the alloys. However, especially for alloys containing Mo, Ni alloys such as Ni-Co-Fe, Ni-Cr-Fe and Ni-Mo can be used to advantage. C

Claims: - 9 - CLAIMS : 1. A sintered hardmetal, comprising tungsten carbide, spinoaddly-decomposing mixed crystal containing zirconium and titanium carbides and a binder comprising one or more metals or alloys of the iron group. 2. A sintered hardmetal according " to claim 1, wherein the spinodally-decomposing mixed crystal is present in an amount of 2% to-4Q%. 3. A sintered, hardmetal" according to claim 2, wherein the spinodally-decomposing mixed crystal is present in an amount of 5% to 30%. 4. A sintered hardmetal according to any preceding claim, wherein the mixed crystal comprises, in molar proportions, 5% to 80% ZrC and 95% to 20% TiC. * 5. A sintered hardmetal according to any preceding claim, wherein the spinodally-decomposing mixed crystal also includes one or more carbides of metals of Group Va. 6. A sintered hardmetal ' according to claim 5, wherein the spinodally decomposing mixed crystal comprises zirconium, titanium and niobium carbides. 7. A sintered hardmetal according to claim 5 or 6, wherein the spinodally-decomposing mixed crystal com¬ prises zirconium, titanium and tantalum carbides. 8. A sintered hardmetal according to claim 5, 6 or 7, wherein the spinodally-decomposing mixed crystal comprises zirconium, titanium and vanadium carbides. 9. A sintered hardmetal according to any of claims 5 to 8, wherein the mixed crystal comprises 3% to 30% of the one or more Group Va metal carbides. 10. A sintered hardmetal according to claim 9, wherein the mixed crystal comprises 5% to 25% of one or more of VC, NbC and TaC. 11. A sintered hardmetal according to any of claims 5 to 10, which incorporates vanadium carbide and niobium c-\2L - 10 - carbide and/or tantalum carbide in the proportion of 1:4 to 1:1-0. 12. A sintered hardmetal according to any preceding, claim, wherein the spinodally-decomposing mixed crystal comprises hafnium carbide in an amount constituting up to 40% by weight of the ZrC content of the mixed crystal. 13. A sintered hardmetal according to any preceding claim, comprising carbides containing nitrogen in the form of carbonitrides. 14. A sintered hardmetal according to claim 13, wherein nitrogen is present in an amount up to 10% . by weight of the cubic phase carbide. 15. A sintered hardmetal according to any preceding claim, which contains at least one other hard material isomorphous with hexagonal tungsten carbide. 16. A sintered hardmetal according to claim 15, wherein one or more of MoCC,Nl, (Mo,W) (C,N) and CMo,Wl (Cl is/are present. 17. A .sintered hardmetal according to any preceding claim, wherein the binder comprises cobalt. 18. A sintered hardmetal according to any preceding claim, wherein the binder comprises a nickel alloy. 19. A sintered hardmetal according to any preceding claim, which has been consolidated by hot isostatic pressing. 20. A sintered hardmetal according to claim 1, substantially as described with reference to the foregoing Examples. 21. A tool, tool tip, die or component, made from a sintered hardmetal as defined in any preceding claim. 22. A tool, tool tip, die or component according to claim 21 , having a wear-resistant coating, for instance selected from TiC, TiN, Ti C,N}, HfN and Al-O-. - u i 23. A process of manufacture of a sintered hardmetal, which comprises heating a first mixture comprising zirconium and titanium carbides and optionally one or more carbides of metals of Group Va under such 5 conditions that the resultant first product comprises mixed crystal capable of spinodally decomposing, forming a second mixture from the first product in comminuted form, tungsten carbide with or • without at least one other hardmetal material and one or more I Q metals or alloys of the iron group and heating the second mixture under such, conditions that the resultant second product comprises a sintered hardmetal comprising spinodally-decomposed mixed crystal. • * 24. A process according to claim 23, wherein the • 15 first product consists of zirconium, titanium, vanadium and niobium carbide mixed crystal material and the second mixture ' is made by mixing the first product with tungsten carbide and cobalt, all the carbides being in comminuted form. 20 25. A process according to claim 23, wherein part of the desired tungsten carbide content of the final product is incorporated in the first mixture, in an amount up to that which enters cubic mixed crystal present in the final product, the balance of the tungsten carbide being 25 incorporated in the second mixture. 26. A process according to claim 23 or 25, wherein part of the iron group metal or alloy of the- final product is incorporated in the first mixture, in an amount sufficient to accelerate mixed crystal formation, 30. the balance of the iron group metal or alloy being - 12 - incorporated in the second mixture. 27. A process according to claim 23, 25 or 26, wherein the first product consists of zirconium, \ titanium, niobium and tungsten carbides and cobalt in mixed crystal form and the second mixture is made by mixing the first product with further tungsten carbide and cobalt, all the carbides being in comminuted form. 28. A process according to claim 23, wherein the first product consists of zirconium, titanium, niobium. and tantalum carbide mixed crystal material and the second mixture is made by mixing the first product with tungsten carbide, (Mo,W) (C,N) and cobalt, all the carbides and carbonitrides being in comminuted form. 29. A process of manufacture of a sintered hardmetal based upon tungsten carbide, wherein spinodally-decom¬ posing mixed crystals containing zirconium and titanium carbide are incorporated with the tungsten carbide. 30. A process according to any of claims 23 to 29, ' wherein vanadium carbide and niobium carbide and/or tantalum carbide are present in the mixed crystal in the proportion of.1:4 to 1:10. 31. A process according to any of claims ' 23 to 30, wherein the hardmetal product is consolidated by hot iso-static pressing. 32. A process according to claim 23, substantially as described with reference to any of the foregoing Examples. 33. A sintered hardmetal when made by a process as claimed in any of claims 23 to 32.

Inventors: HALL F, RETELSDORF H
Applicants: HALL F, METALLURG INC, RETELSDORF H
Application year: 1981
Main classification: C22C29
IPC codes: C22C1, C22C29