2022-Sustainable Industrial Processing Summit
SIPS2022 Volume 18 Intl. Symp on Advanced Materials, Polymers, Composite, Nanomaterials, Nanotechnologies and Manufacturing

Editors:F. Kongoli, F. Marquis, N. Chikhradze, T. Prikhna, M. De Campos, S. Lewis, S. Miller, S. Thomas.
Publisher:Flogen Star OUTREACH
Publication Year:2022
Pages:290 pages
ISBN:978-1-989820-68-1(CD)
ISSN:2291-1227 (Metals and Materials Processing in a Clean Environment Series)
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    Novel Approaches to Overcoming the Trade-Off Between Hardness and Toughness of Hard Materials

    Igor Konyashin1;
    1ELEMENT SIX GMBH, Burghaun, Germany;
    Type of Paper: Keynote
    Id Paper: 10
    Topic: 43

    Abstract:

    The discovery of WC-Co metal-ceramic composites, cemented carbides, was one of the most important technological revolutions of the last century [1, 2]. Such functional hard materials possess a unique combination of strength and fracture toughness on the one hand, and hardness and wear-resistance on the other hand as a result of combining a hard ceramic phase, tungsten carbide, with a ductile and tough cobalt binder [3]. Nevertheless, presently, for many applications there is a need for hard materials with a significantly improved combination of hardness, toughness and wear-resistance. However, traditional wisdom indicates that hardness and wear-resistance are contradictory and incompatible material properties when compared to toughness, so that in conventional hard materials an increase of hardness and wear-resistance can be achieved only at the expense of fracture toughness [3, 4].
    A number of new approaches to the fabrication of novel hard materials with improved combinations of hardness, fracture toughness and wear-resistance were elaborated and implemented in industry.
    One of these approaches is based on creating functionally graded WC-Co materials, known as ‘Gradient Carbides’, with a tailored gradient of Co contents from a near-surface layer towards a core region. The novel hard materials comprise a hard surface layer containing much WC phase and a tough core containing lots of Co, which results in an exceptionally high combination of hardness and fracture toughness of the surface layer.
    The second approach ensuring the hardness/toughness/wear-resistance trade-off to be overcome is based on employing nanotechnology. A range of novel hard materials with nano/micro hierarchical structure were developed and are presently widely employed in the mining and construction industry. An unusual combination of the ultra-coarse-grain microstructure structured on the µm-level and the binder phase structured on the nm-level provides an extraordinarily high combination of both transverse rupture strength/fracture toughness and hardness/wear-resistance.
    The third approach comprises the development and implementation of nanostructured cemented carbides also known as ‘near-nano carbides’ with a WC mean grain size of about 150 nm. These hard materials are characterized by a significantly improved combination of hardness, wear-resistance and fracture toughness, which ensures their dramatically prolonged lifetime in different applications.

    Keywords:

    Nanocomposites; Nanomaterials; New and advanced materials; New and advanced technology; Sustainable development;

    References:

    REFERENCES:
    [1] H. M. Ortner, P. Ettmayer, H. Kolaska. Int. J. Refractory Met. Hard Mater., 44 (2014) 148–159.
    [2] H. Kolaska. Powder Met. Int., 24/5 (1992) 311-314.
    [3[ I.Konyashin. Comprehensive Hard Materials, Elsevier Science and Technology, Editor-in-Chief V.Sarin, 2014, 425-251.
    [4] B.Roebuck B., M.G.Gee, R.Morrell. Proc. 15th Int. Plansee Sem., 2001, vol.4, 2001, Kneringer G, Rödhammer P, Wildner H (Eds.).: Plansee Group Reutte, Austria, pp.245-266.

    Cite this article as:

    Konyashin I. (2022). Novel Approaches to Overcoming the Trade-Off Between Hardness and Toughness of Hard Materials. In F. Kongoli, F. Marquis, N. Chikhradze, T. Prikhna, M. De Campos, S. Lewis, S. Miller, S. Thomas. (Eds.), Sustainable Industrial Processing Summit SIPS2022 Volume 18 Intl. Symp on Advanced Materials, Polymers, Composite, Nanomaterials, Nanotechnologies and Manufacturing (pp. 109-110). Montreal, Canada: FLOGEN Star Outreach