Anisotropic nanoscratch resistance of WC grains in WC–Co composite

•Significant angle dependence of nanoscratch resistance in WC grains•Higher resistance of grains close to the basal orientation in comparison to the grains close to prismatic orientation•The observed slip lines suggest that most probably the 101¯0112¯3 type slip system is activated.

The influence of the crystal orientation of WC grains on their nanoscratch resistance in WC–Co system was investigated. Instrumented nanoindentation with Berkovich tip was used for nanoscratch measurement. Electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD), atomic force microscopy (AFM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) investigations were performed to determine the orientation of WC grains and to study the surface morphology after the scratch test. The scratch resistance of the WC grains exhibits significant angle dependence with higher resistance of grains close to the basal orientation in comparison to the grains close to prismatic orientation.