A systematic investigation of elastic moduli of Wc-Co alloys

TLDR: In this paper, the effects of volume fraction of the WC phase, the carbon content, and the WC particle-size on the elastic moduli were investigated in some detail, and it was concluded that elastic behavior of the alloys can be essentially predicted on the basis of a simplified geometrical model of WC particles embedded in continuous cobalt matrix.

Abstract: Measurements of Young’s modulus, shear modulus, compression modulus, and Poisson’s ratio on WC-(1 ~ 30) wt pct Co alloys were carried out by dynamic resonance method. The effects of volume fraction of the WC phase, the carbon content, and the WC particle-size on the elastic moduli were investigated in some detail. The result shows that the various elastic moduli of the alloys depend solely on volume fractions of the constituent phases and they invariably fall within Hashin and Shtrikman’s bounds. Moreover, the moduli are found to be approximated by Paul’s “strength of materials” type formulas. It is concluded that elastic behavior of the alloys can be essentially predicted on the basis of a simplified geometrical model of WC particles embedded in continuous cobalt matrix.