ICME guided modeling of surface gradient formation in cemented carbides

Structural gradients are of great interest for state-of-the-art cemented carbides used in metal cutting applications. The gradient growth during sintering is controlled by the fundamental aspects of diffusion, thermodynamics and phase equilibria in systems with multiple components and phases. With the demand for binder alternatives to Co, there is a need for understanding the diffusion and thermodynamics in new materials systems. Materials development guided by ICME (Integrated Computational Materials Engineering) is a new approach that accelerates the design of tailor-made materials, assisting us to find and optimize prospective binder candidates using computational tools. The role of the thermodynamic descriptions will be briefly discussed but this work focuses on a better kinetic description. Models based on cemented carbide microstructures and fundamental understanding of kinetics will allow for a more general use of simulations of gradient formation. The diffusion of elements during sintering mainly occurs in the liquid binder phase, with the solid WC and gamma phases acting as an effective labyrinth, hindering diffusion. In this work, the liquid mobilities and the effective labyrinth factor is studied for traditional and alternative binders by combing ab initio molecular dynamics and diffusion couple experiments with CALPHAD modeling.