Cemented carbides alloyed with ruthenium, osmium, and rhenium

A study was made of the structure and mechanical properties of WC - Co ceme nted carbides alloyed with Ru, Re, and Os. It was shown that the alloying e lements form solid solutions with the binder phase, Co(Ru, W, C), Co(Re, W, C), Co(Os, W, C), which have higher microhardnesses and elastic moduli tha n the solid solution Co(W, C). Ruthenium, rhenium, and osmium reduce the st acking fault energy of the cobalt phase and promote the transformation of t he cubic modification of cobalt to the hexagonal. This results in precipita tion of the binder phase. Additions of Ru, Re, and Os increase the hardness , and bend, compression ad yield strengths, of WC - Co alloys. Examples of the successful use of WC - Co cemented carbide tools alloyed with noble met als for the machining of heat-resistant alloys and high-alloys steels are g iven.