High-pressure sintering study of a novel hard material (W0.5Al0.5)C0.5 without binder metal

A novel hard material of (W0.5Al0.5)C0.5 has been successfully sintered under high-pressure (4.5 GPa). The influence of sintering time and temperature on the microstructure, Vickers microhardness and density of the as-prepared specimens are well described. Interestingly, sintering temperature has an amazing influence on the hardness, density and microstructure of the specimen while the sintering time does not. It is found that the most suitable sintering condition from our work is 1600 °C and 10 min under pressure of 4.5 GPa. The hardness and relative density of the as-prepared sample can reach 2340 kg mm−2 and 98.62%, respectively. The cell parameters of the sintered specimen is found to be little smaller than that of the powder, which we propose is related to the high pressure.