Microstructure, mechanical properties, and cutting performances of WC-Co cemented carbides with Ru additions

In this study, the microstructure, mechanical properties, and cutting performance of WC-8Co cemented carbide with different Ru additions were studied in detail. The results show that Ru can inhibit the abnormal growth of WC grains and the mean grain size of WC grains decreases. Ru can result in the lattice distortion of Co phases and promote the phase transition of Co from face-centered cubic (FCC) to hexagonal closepacked (HCP) as Ru can reduce the stacking fault energy of Co phases. The proportion of HCP Co phases increased from 14.4 to 39.6% with increasing Ru content. Meanwhile, among the five groups of cemented carbides with different Ru additions, cemented carbides with 1.5 wt% Ru exhibit the highest hardness of 1382 HV and transverse rupture strength (TRS) of 3790 MPa. The enhanced hardness and TRS were due to solid solution strengthening and phase transition of Co, respectively. The fracture toughness of cemented carbide was enhanced from 16 MPa m- 1/2 with 0 wt% Ru to 19 MPa m- 1/2 with 0.5 wt% Ru. Additionally, during the dry cutting of Ti-6Al-4V, the diffusion of Ti and Al elements is hindered. Therefore, the wear resistance of the tools is improved. The cutting lifetime of the cemented carbide tools with 0.5 wt% Ru increased three-fold compared to those without Ru addition.