Investigation on plastic deformation mechanism of ultra-coarse cemented carbide based on energy analysis

Microstructure evolution and plastic deformation mechanisms of the ultra-coarse cemented carbide compressed at different temperatures were studied based on designed experiments and a proposed energy model. The cemented carbide compressed at high temperature exhibited larger strain, which resulted from the generation and movement of high density of dislocations in WC grain. The energies stored in WC and Co phases and dissipated by heat energy in the deformation were quantified. The larger energy stored in WC grain than that in Co phase indicates significant contribution of the hard matrix to deformation of the ultra-coarse cemented carbide. [Display omitted] •An energy model was proposed to evaluate contributions of WC and Co to plasticity of ultra-coarse cemented carbide at different temperatures.•Larger strain of cemented carbide at higher temperature results mainly from nucleation and motion of WC dislocations with a high density.•More energy is stored in WC grains than in Co during plastic deformation of ultra-coarse cemented carbides.