Microstructure, Mechanical and Tribological Properties of the x SiC—(1-x) WC—10 wt.% Co Composites Prepared by High-Energy Milling and Spark Plasma Sintering

This work proposes to characterize the composites manufactured of SiC, WC, and Co [ x SiC–(1- x ) WC–10 wt.% Co], with x = 0, 0.25, 0.50, 0.75 and 1. These composites were prepared by high-energy milling (HEM) and consolidated by spark plasma sintering (SPS). The results showed that HEM promoted a decrease in particle size, dispersion, and homogenization of the constituent phases, improving the densification and mechanical properties of the composites. The WC-Co showed high relative density (96.37%) and microhardness (9.4 GPa) values. The tribological behavior of the composites was evaluated by a pin-on-disk tribometer, applied against 1020 steel discs with a 5-N load in non-lubricated conditions. There was a significant effect from the variations in the contents of SiC and WC in the wear volumes (3.13 × 10 −2 –49.0 × 10 −2 mm 3 ) and wear rates (0.63 × 10 −5 –9.83 × 10 −5 mm 3 /N m) of the composites. Tribological tests showed that the composites sintered by SPS proved to be a promising material with good tribological performance and attractive for components/devices subjected to wear.