What are the different types of Cemented Carbide?
The Cemented Carbides are a range of composite materials, which consist of hard carbide particles bonded together by a metallic binder. The proportion of carbide phase is generally between 70-97% of the total weight of the composite and its grain size averages between 0.4 and 10 μm. Tungsten carbide (WC), the hard phase, together with cobalt (Co), the binder phase, forms the basic Cemented Carbide structure from which other types of Cemented Carbide have been developed. In addition to the straight tungsten carbide – cobalt compositions – Cemented Carbide may contain varying proportions of titanium carbide (TiC), tantalum carbide (TaC) and niobium carbide (NbC). These carbides are mutually soluble and can also dissolve a high proportion of tungsten carbide. Also, Cemented Carbides are produced which have the cobalt binder phase alloyed with, or completely replaced by, other metals such as iron (Fe), chromium (Cr), nickel (Ni), molybdenum (Mo), or alloys of these elements. There are thre
