Influence of milling time and binder composition on phase evolution in WC-based composite powders fabricated via high-energy ball milling
Aidarova M. Kurbanbekov S. Kizatov A. Urkunbay A. Bayatanova L. Rutkowska-Gorczyca M. Amangeldiyeva Y.
2025Frontiers Media SA
Frontiers in Materials
2025#12
Cobalt-free WC-(Fe/Ni) composite powders were evaluated as practical alternatives to WC-Co, with emphasis on how the post-milling powder state governs downstream processing. Blends of 88 wt% WC-12 wt% Fe, 88 wt% WC-12 wt% Ni, and 88 wt% WC-6 wt% Fe-6 wt% Ni were ball-milled for 0–4 h at 500 rpm in Ar. Phase constitution was assessed by X-ray diffraction; crystallite size and microstrain were quantified by Williamson-Hall/Scherrer; particle-size distributions (PSD) were measured by laser diffraction and benchmarked against SEM. Across all series, WC and metallic binder were retained while W2C/W remained at trace levels (<1%). In WC-FeNi, the free-Ni fraction decreased (1.9 → 0.5%) and Fe increased (9.5 → 23.6%), indicating formation of an Fe(Ni) solid solution during milling. WC crystallites refined from ∼50-55 nm to 22.6 nm (WC-Fe), 20.7 nm (WC-Ni), and 21.1 nm (WC-FeNi) by 4 h, with most refinement achieved within 0–2 h. In parallel, PSD shifted to larger particle sizes due to cold welding: D50 increased 3.40 → 10.30 µm (Fe), 2.87 → 7.27 µm (Ni), and 4.11 → 7.42 µm (FeNi), while PSD/SEM jointly evidenced multigrain aggregates in the 5–10 µm range. This establishes an inverse micro/nano linkage wherein agglomerates coarsen as WC crystallites refine. Among the chemistries, WC-FeNi at 1–2 h provided the most balanced outcome ∼21 nm crystallites, moderate microstrain, and limited D50 growth defining a preferred window for uniform compaction and sintering. These results clarify processing–structure relations in cobalt-free WC composites and outline a short-duration milling strategy to engineer powder-state attributes for improved sinterability. Copyright
high-energy ball milling , mechanosynthesis , particle-size distribution , SEM/EDS mapping , W2C formation , WC-based composites , Williamson-Hall analysis , X-ray diffraction (XRD)
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Center of Excellence “VERITAS”, NJSC D. Serikbayev East Kazakhstan Technical University, Ust-Kamenogorsk, Kazakhstan
LLP “Institute of Innovative Technologies and New Materials”, Turkestan, Kazakhstan
Department of Vehicle Engineering, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Wroclaw University of Science and Technology, Wroclaw, Poland
Center of Excellence “VERITAS”
LLP “Institute of Innovative Technologies and New Materials”
Department of Vehicle Engineering
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