Microwave sintering is an efficient and green material preparation technology. Ultrafine crystalline WC-CoCrFeNiCu cemented carbide were fabricated by microwave sintering using mechanically alloyed high-entropy alloy (HEA) as a binder. The effects of the microwave sintering process (sintering temperature, holding time) on grain distribution, microstructure and mechanical properties of WC-HEA cemented carbide were studied. WC-10wt%HEA showed the best mechanical properties as sintered at 1400 °C with holding time of 10 min. Its grain size, Vickers hardness and fracture toughness were 273 ± 6 nm, 17.6 ± 0.8 GPa, and 8.7 ± 0.3 MPa·m, respectively. The delayed diffusion effect of HEA played significant role in inhibiting grain growth, resulting in 38% smaller than that of WC-Co cemented carbide. Improving the wettability of HEA on WC to reduce the porosity of the sintered body is the main challenge in producing cemented carbide tool materials with HEA as a binder.

中文翻译：

---

WC-HEA硬质合金的微波烧结：烧结工艺、显微组织和力学性能


微波烧结是一种高效、绿色的材料制备技术。以机械合金化高熵合金（HEA）为粘结剂，通过微波烧结制备超细晶WC-CoCrFeNiCu硬质合金。研究了微波烧结工艺（烧结温度、保温时间）对WC-HEA硬质合金晶粒分布、显微组织和力学性能的影响。 WC-10wt%HEA 在 1400 °C 烧结，保温时间 10 分钟时表现出最佳的机械性能。其晶粒尺寸、维氏硬度和断裂韧性分别为273±6 nm、17.6±0.8 GPa和8.7±0.3 MPa·m。 HEA的延迟扩散效应对抑制晶粒长大起到了显着的作用，导致晶粒比WC-Co硬质合金小38%。提高HEA对WC的润湿性以降低烧结体的孔隙率是生产以HEA为粘结剂的硬质合金刀具材料的主要挑战。