Which grade characteristics affect the properties of cemented carbide?
The properties of cemented carbides are affected by four primary material characteristics, namely, (i) the average grain size of the carbide phase, (ii) the weight or volume percent of the binder alloy present, (iii) the composition of the carbide phases, and (iv) the composition of the binder alloy. In general, hardness increases (and fracture toughness decreases) as the average hard phase grain size decreases and/or the weight or volume fraction of the binder decreases. The strength increases as the average grain size of hard phase decreases at any given binder fraction. Corrosion resistance increases as Ni and/or Cr is substituted for Co in the binder alloy.
