Polarity of prismatic facets delimiting WC grains in WC–Co alloys

• Published in: Micron (Oxford, England : 1993) Vol. 41; no. 5; pp. 472 - 477
• Main Authors: Lay, Sabine, Donnadieu, Patricia, Loubradou, Marc
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Elsevier Ltd 01.07.2010; Elsevier
• Subjects: Alloys; Cemented carbides; Chemical Sciences; Cobalt; HRTEM; Inhibitors; Interfaces; Material chemistry; Mathematical analysis; Polarity; Prismatic facets; Tungsten carbide; WC–Co alloys; Interfaces; Polarity; WC–Co alloys; Prismatic facets; HRTEM; POLARITY; MECHANISM; ELECTRON-DIFFRACTION; CRYSTAL; QUANTITATIVE-ANALYSIS; SHAPE; EVOLUTION; CEMENTED CARBIDES; GROWTH; WC-Co alloys; MORPHOLOGY
• ISSN: 0968-4328; 1878-4291
• DOI: 10.1016/j.micron.2010.01.013

This study reports a determination of the polarity of WC facets in WC–Co alloys sintered at the liquid state. In these alloys, WC grains are delimited by basal facets and two sets of { 1   0   1 ¯   0 } prismatic facets, one set of facets being much more developed than the other. A variation of the shape is observed as a function of the composition of the alloy. High resolution transmission electron microscopy is used to investigate the polarity of the prismatic facets owing to the typical triangular patterns appearing on the images. The effect of the composition is investigated using two alloys with different carbon potentials and one containing VC and Cr 3C 2 as grain growth inhibitors. The interpretation of the images shows that in all cases, the same set of prismatic planes is favoured.