Sintering of binderless WC–Mo2C hard materials by rapid sintering process

High-frequency induction heated sintering (HFIHS) is a new rapid sintering method which was developed recently for the fabrication of ceramics and composites. This method combines a short time high-temperature exposure with pressure application. In this work, we reported results on the sintering of binderless WC–x wt.%Mo2C (0 ≤ x ≤ 6) hard materials using ultra fine powders of WC and Mo2C. A complete densification of the materials was achieved within 1 min. The relative densities of the composites were about 99% for an applied pressure of 60 MPa and an induced current for 90% output of total capacity. The Vickers hardness decreased and the fracture toughness increased with increasing the Mo2C content.