Ultrafine tungsten carbide-nickel (WC-Ni) cemented carbides with varied fractions of silicon carbide (SiC) nanowhisker (0-3.75 wt.%) were fabricated by spark plasma sintering at 1350°C under a uniaxial pressure of 50 MPa with the assistance of vanadium carbide (VC) and tantalum carbide (TaC) as WC grain growth inhibitors. The effects of SiC nanowhisker on the microstructure and mechanical prope...

The microstructure of three different grades of WC-Co cemented carbides has been reconstructed in three dimensions after sequential images obtained by focused ion beam. The three-dimensional microstructual parameters are compared against the well-know two-dimensional parameters of grain size, phase percentages and mean free path. Results show good agreement with the exception of individual grai...