Assessment of zirconia doped hardmetals as tribomaterials

The main objective of the present study is assessment of erosive and abrasive wear performance of newly developed WC-based and 3 mol% yttria stabilized tetragonal zirconia doped cermets with nickel and cobalt binder metal exploiting the mechanism of stress induced transformation of tetragonal zirconia into the monoclinic polymorph. The newly developed cermets possess both outstanding indentation fracture toughness and high Vickers hardness. The erosive wear resistance of the composite is found to be at least three-fold higher and abrasive wear two-fold higher as compared to the conventional WC–Co hardmetal of the same binder content (8 wt%).

► WC-based and 3 mol.% yttria stabilized tetragonal zirconia doped cermets with nickel and cobalt binder metal exploiting the mechanism of stress induced transformation of tetragonal zirconia into the monoclinic polymorph ar produced by presureless sintering.
► The cermets possess both outstanding indentation fracture toughness and high Vickers hardness.
► The erosive and abrasive wear resistance of the composite is f higher as compared to the conventional WC–Co hardmetal of the same binder content (8 wt.%).