Change in relative density of WC-Co cemented carbides in spark plasma sintering process

The relative density of WC-Co cemented carbides during spark plasma sintering (SPS) was analyzed. Based on the change in displacement of the ram in the SPS system, the relative densities in the sintering process can be achieved at different temperatures. The results indicated that densification of the samples started at near 900°C, the density rapidly reached its maximum at the increasing temperature stage, in which the temperature was lower than the sintering temperature of 1200°C, and most of the densification took place in the stage. Besides, the theoretical values were consistent with the experimental results.