Development of tungsten carbide recovery for the hard metal

Abstract

This research was on the production of hardmetal from recovery of tungsten carbide tool scraps, recycling through ball milling for 40 hours. The metal powder obtained, which was of the size between 0.11-0.22 µm, was composed of 96.69% of tungsten carbide (WC), 1.68% of tantalum (Ta), 1.21% of titanium (Ti) and 0.42% of niobium (Nb). When mixed with 5-15% cobalt binder metal, cold isostatic press (CIP) sintered at 1,450 ° C, it became hardmetal work piece dimension 12.39 x 13.82 x 5.60 mm with 1,410 HV hardness and 14.34 g/cm3 density. The result of S45C steel turning was tools life good. The research concluded that the hardmetal work piece produced by the developed material had suitable basic specification and would lead to the development in working in the future.