Microstructure control and mechanical property improvement of Cr3C2-Ni cermets by using solid-solution powders

Cr3C2-based cermets have been strengthened and toughened significantly by using Cr3C2-TiC-WC composite solid solution powder with a particle size of 1-2 mu m as starting material. 80(72Cr3C2-18TiC-10WC)-20Ni cermet sintered at 1200 degrees C for 1 h has excellent mechanical properties: bending strength of 1378 MPa, hardness of 88.7 HRA and toughness of 12.74 MPa & sdot;m1/2, which are 167.1%, 5.2% and 100.6% higher than those of 80Cr3C2-20Ni cermet. The application of the solid-solution powder not only effectively inhibits abnormal growth of Cr3C2 grains, but also eliminates residual porosity and strengthening Ni phase. Therefore, compared with the tradi-tional method of adding single-component carbide powder, this study can provide a useful reference for the preparation of high-performance Cr3C2-based cermets.