Effect of carbon content on the microstructure and mechanical properties of (Ti, W) (C, N)-Co cermets

Ti(C, N)-Co cermets were prepared by vacuum sintering with sub TiC, nano TiN, Co as a binder, and the microstructure and mechanical properties of Ti(C, N)-based cermets were also studied. Results show that the microstructures of cermets exist black core-grey rim structure and white core-grey rim structure. The amount of white core-grey rim structure increases, the carbonitride grain size increases with increasing carbon content. Results also show that the transverse rupture strength and the hardness have the similar trend, the good fracture toughness can be obtained when the addition of C is high.