Microstructures and Wear-Resistant Properties of In Situ WCp/W Wire Hybrid Reinforced Iron Matrix Composites via Electromagnetic Field

In the paper, tungsten carbide (WC) particles can be in-situ synthesized by applying electromagnetic field to the system consisting of tungsten wires and gray cast iron melt at 1573 K. The microstructures and wear-resistant properties of composites reinforced by both WC particles and the residual tungsten wires were investigated by XRD, SEM, EDS, micro-hardness and pin-on-disc wear measurements. The results show that, with enhancing frequencies of electromagnetic field from 0 to 5 KHz, the amounts of in-situ WC particles increased and of the residual tungsten wires gradually decreased until tungsten wires completely reacted. Due to the higher hardness of in-situ WCp(2100-2231HV0.1) and the strong interfacial bonding, the composites displayed an excellent wear-resistant properties. When the frequency was 5 kHz, the wear loss for the composite fabricated was optimal and 2.69 times lower than that of reference samples.