Powder Metallurgy

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Microstructural observations of high temperature

creep processes in hardmetals

K. Mingard , S. Moseley , S. Norgren , H. Zakaria , D. Jones & B. Roebuck

To cite this article: K. Mingard , S. Moseley , S. Norgren , H. Zakaria , D. Jones & B. Roebuck
(2021): Microstructural observations of high temperature creep processes in hardmetals, Powder
Metallurgy, DOI: 10.1080/00325899.2021.1877866

To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.1080/00325899.2021.1877866

Published online: 29 Jan 2021.

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POWDER METALLURGY
https://doi.org/10.1080/00325899.2021.1877866

RESEARCH ARTICLE

Microstructural observations of high temperature creep processes in

hardmetals
K. Mingarda, S. Moseleyb, S. Norgren c
, H. Zakariaa, D. Jonesa and B. Roebucka
a
National Physical Laboratory, Teddington, UK; bHilti AG, Schaan, Liechtenstein; cSandvik & Coromant R&D, Stockholm, Sweden

ABSTRACT ARTICLE HISTORY

High-temperature properties of hardmetals are critical to their use in many applications but a Received 8 December 2020
challenge to measure accurately. Creep behaviour is not well understood so this work has Revised 14 January 2021
studied uniaxial tensile testing of small simple geometry samples to look at how Accepted 14 January 2021
modifications to the microstructure can affect creep behaviour at temperatures between
KEYWORDS
800 and 900°C. In particular, a carbon-ladder series with high, medium and low carbon Hardmetals; creep;
contents in the 10wt-%Co binder has been investigated. Significant differences between the microstructure; WC-Co;
stress–strain curves of the different carbon contents have been observed, but the carbon-ladder; miniaturised
underlying microstructural mechanisms appear to be similar in detailed large area testing
examination of samples after failure. Penetration of Co along WC-WC boundaries with
‘precipitation’ of discrete islands is seen as well as the formation of continuous thin lamellae
while void formation tends to occur at WC-Co boundaries. EBSD mapping suggests Co
penetration varies as a function of WC-WC misorientation.

1. Introduction conditions as creep, high-temperature deformation

The high-temperature properties of hardmetals or
cemented carbides are often critical for their successful
use in conditions such as drilling in the mining and
construction industries, where high loads and abrasive
conditions and temperatures in excess of 800°C can be
encountered. However, measurement of properties
such as creep under load at high temperature is
difficult, as is obtaining an understanding of the mech-
anisms by which the materials fail to enable selection
of hardmetal grades with longer or more effective
operational life.
Most reported work has concentrated on analysis of
the mechanical properties measured between 750°C
and 1350°C. Direct microstructural investigation of
the creep processes has however largely looked at
temperatures above 1000°C. Lay et al. [1] used Trans-
mission Electron Microscopy (TEM) on 3 point bend
test samples between 1050°C and 1350°C as well as
measuring stress–strain curves and observed dislo-
cation behaviour in WC grains. Coupling observations
with measured activation energies, they concluded
creep was controlled by diffusion of W and thus dislo-
cation movement in the WC phase with grain bound-
ary sliding only occurring during stage II of the creep
curve. Yousfi et al. [2,3] studied compressive creep at
1000–1100°C and reported WC grain growth perpen-
dicular to the load axis as well as observing a small
number of narrow binder phase lamellae (20 nm and
greater) forming between WC grains and break-up
of the large Co grains. While not defining the stress
has also been studied by examination of the micro-
structure of cutting tools after use [4,5]. The exact
temperatures experienced and the stress state were
not easily defined although the latter was probably
generally compressive. A significant number of binder
phase lamellae were observed (more than in [2]) in
SEM and TEM studies and WC was seen to have
deformed with extensive slip in one case [4] but not
in the other [5]. Additional understanding was sought
using three point bending and mechanical spec-
troscopy [6] from which it was suggested that ≈
800°C was a transition temperature between brittle
fracture of the entire WC-Co skeleton and plastic
deformation of Co and the WC skeleton enhanced
by the presence of Co.
Useldinger and Schleinkofer [7] investigated com-
pressive creep at slightly lower temperatures, 700–
950°C, and deduced from measurements of strain
rates that diffusion control was a more significant
creep mechanism in high binder content (>8 wt-%)
materials, with grain boundary sliding more signifi-
cant at lower contents. However, WC grain size
measurements before and after indicated no changes
as the result of creep. The effect of binder phase com-
position became more significant at higher tempera-
tures and at high binder phase contents with a
significant reduction in creep in a 30wt-% CoNiCr
binder. Buchegger and Lengauer [8] measured creep
in a 3 point bend test system at lower temperatures
for a wide range of binder phase compositions to

CONTACT K. Mingard ken.mingard@npl.co.uk National Physical Laboratory, Hampton Road, Teddington, Middlesex, TW11 0LW, UK
© 2021 Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining Published by Taylor & Francis on behalf of the Institute
2 K. MINGARD ET AL.
determine creep activation energies and found similar
creep rates in for Co, FeCoNi and austenitic FeNi at
725°C, but significantly reduced elongation to failure
in the latter two binders. The effects of different stress
states and strain rates, as well as the effect of tempera-
ture and load could account for differences in reported
behaviour, as discussed by Roebuck and Moseley [9].
The current work has sought to investigate the
microstructural processes occurring in the lower
temperature regime (800–900°C) using high resol-
ution scanning electron microscopy (SEM) on well-
polished samples of a range of hardmetal grades.
The creep testing itself was carried out on small
samples of each grade by resistive heating of the
samples in a thermomechanical testing system, with
most samples strained in tension to failure.
2. Experimental details
Samples for creep testing were cut by electro-discharge
machining from larger rectangular blocks before being
ground along the four long faces to produce testpiece
bars 40 × 2×1 mm. Creep testing was carried out in
an NPL designed electro-thermomechancial test system
(ETMT). This system strains the sample between
water-cooled grips while heating it with a direct electric
current, all held within a reducing Ar/5%Hydrogen
atmosphere. Plastic strain is measured by changes in
electrical resistance between contacts approximately
3 mm apart within the central heated zone (uniform
within ≈ +/−5°C over 4 mm). Further details of this
equipment are given in [9].
Figure 1(a) shows a typical testing cycle, in which
the sample is heated rapidly (5 K/s) from room temp-
erature to the test temperature. A constant tempera-
ture is then maintained while the tensile load on the
sample is incremented in 50 N steps, maintaining a
constant load at each increment and measuring the
strain from changes in the electrical resistance (Figure
1(b)). A stress–strain curve can then be derived from
these measurements (Figure 1(c)). Stresses at failure
were of the order of 500–700 MPa with typical strain
rates of between 1 × 10−4 and 1 × 10−5 s−1. Electrical
noise during the hold at each load produces the
short horizontal lines in the vertical part of the
stress–strain curve before the measurable deformation
is observed.
After testing to failure, one half of each sample was
mounted and polished by conventional mechanical
metallographic processes, finishing with a broad
argon ion polish [Hitachi IM4000]. The as-polished
microstructure was examined in a Zeiss Supra 40
SEM and mapped by electron backscatter diffraction
(EBSD). The fracture face of the other sample half
was also examined in the SEM. A Zeiss Auriga
Focused Ion Beam (FIB) SEM was used to prepare
cross sectional views perpendicular to the polished
surface.
Table 1 lists the different grades strained in the
ETMT and examined by SEM, naming the grades by
use of the approximate weight % binder phase and
the grain size range descriptions given in ISO4499.
The 10 M grade was produced with 3 different carbon
concentrations, described here simply as L, M and H
to indicate low, medium and high carbon concen-
trations in the binder phase. The low and high carbon
concentrations were aimed to achieve binder concen-
trations close to the eta-phase and graphite phase
boundaries but still within the WC-Co phase region;
no evidence of either eta phase or graphite was
observed in the polished microstructures.
Results of the microstructural examination are pre-
sented first to show the general features observed,
before relating these observations to variation in
stress–strain curves measured on different samples.
3. Results
3.1. Microstructural examination
The effect of creep on the microstructure of a 6wt-%
Co F grade hardmetal is shown in Figure 2 after it
had been subject to a final tensile step creep load of
720 N at 800°C (which resulted in a strain of 1.7%).
The structure typical of the material before creep
can be seen from the example in Figure 2(a,b), taken
2 mm outside of the high-temperature zone, 4 mm
away from the creep fracture face at the centre of the
sample. Boundaries between the WC grains and
between WC and the Co binder are all completely con-
tinuous, as expected.
At a distance of 1 mm from the creep fracture
(Figure 2(c,d)), which would be within 5°C of the
peak temperature, there is a clear change at a number
of the WC-WC boundaries. Figure 2(d) shows
examples at high magnification, at top left and bottom
right, of the formation of a series of small rounded fea-
tures in a line along the WC-WC boundaries. Less fre-
quent were continuous gaps, an example of which is
arrowed in Figure 2(c). Although it cannot be deter-
mined from these images, it will be shown later that
both the small individual features (described in the
following as precipitates) and continuous gaps (lamel-
lae) are not voids but are filled by the Co binder phase.
These features were also visible very close to the
fracture (Figure 2(e,f)), perhaps with an increase in
the thickness of the Co precipitates and lamellae.
What is more noticeable is the increase in number
of what are clearly voids, between WC grains and at
WC-Co boundaries, and now extending between mul-
tiple WC grains. A few small voids are visible in Figure
2(c), confined close to triple points of WC-WC and
binder, but in Figure 2(e) these become more frequent

Figure 1. (a) time base profile of temperature (upper flat line) and load control (stepped line) with consequent increase in grip
displacement (lower curving line), (b) resulting measure of plastic strain calculated from resistivity and (c) stress strain curve.
and much larger, extending between multiple WC
grains.
Figure 3 shows that the formation of precipitates,
lamellae and voids are common across a range of
WC grain sizes and Co binder phase fractions. The
previous example was from a 6wt-% Co F grade:
Figure 3 shows examples in 10 or 11wt-% Co binders
from both coarser (10M, Figure 3(a,b)) and finer grade
(11F and 10UF), Figure 3(c,d) materials.
The previous views are clearly 2D sections but by
use of the FIB a section perpendicular to the polished
surface of the 6F sample was milled close to the frac-
ture face. By milling of 100 nm slices and imaging
each new face revealed, a 3D understanding could be
built up of the structure. The FIB section also pro-
duced a very planar surface and, coupled with high
magnification imaging, showed clearly that the fea-
tures at the WC boundaries were Co. This is seen in
Figure 4, in which representative images are shown
after removal of approximately 500 nm (or every 5
slices) of material which enables tracking of features
at a WC-WC boundary across the width and depth
of the boundary. An example WC-WC grain bound-
ary towards the top of Figure 4(a–e) is arrowed and
is best described by working backwards from Figure
4(e). Initially (Figure 4(e)) a thin continuous band of
Co (lamella) extends across the small contact between
the grains. This continuous band is still present when
there is much greater contact between grains (Figure 4
(d)) but is of variable thickness.
After even more milling, further still along the
boundary, the Co only exists in isolated pockets or pre-
cipitates, and these become smaller and clustered nearer
one end of the WC-WC boundary as the sections
Table 1. Sample microstructure details.
Hardmetal Binder volume Mean WC grain size (linear
grade fraction (%) intercept) (µm)
6F 10.1 1.1
10M (L/M/H) 16.1 1.6/1.7/1.8
10UF 16.3 0.4
11F 17.8 0.9
11Ni 20.0 2.8
10SM 16.3 0.5
POWDER METALLURGY 3
progress further into the material. One side of the
boundary always appears straight, while the other side
is irregular from the Co features extending into the
WC grain.
It may be noted that in the above example, as at
other similar sites, the Co features are not associated
with voids. The voids are often seen as small narrow
gaps occurring at WC-Co boundaries, as for example
the feature ringed in Figure 4(a). This void increases in
size, apparently at the expense of the Co binder phase,
until it extends between a number of WC grains
(Figure 4(d)) before shrinking again to lie again
mostly on a WC-Co boundary.
Figure 5 shows images of the creep failure fracture
face of the 6F grade which add to the three-dimen-
sional understanding of the Co distribution between
WC grains, even though only one WC grain is visible.
In addition to the expected necking of Co typical of
monotonic fracture of WC-Co, in Figure 5(a), small
features appear dotted across several WC grain facets.
In some cases these features are densely packed (to the
left of ‘1’), and in others more widely separated (at ‘2’).
To the right of ‘1’ and at ‘3’ the WC facets are not com-
pletely covered, and while it is difficult to interpret the
contrast with certainty, the features appear in recesses
(unlike at ‘2’ where they sit on a flat surface. The fea-
tures in Figure 5(a) are all randomly distributed, but
the large facet shown in Figure 5(b) clearly has
elongated features in ordered rows.
Finally, Figure 6 shows that a 10% Ni binder phase
shows very similar behaviour to the Co samples. In the
polished face of Figure 6(a), taken close to the creep
fracture face, binder phase penetration of WC-WC
boundaries is clearly visible, as are voids, although in
the area imaged these are present at possibly more of
a mix of WC-WC and WC-Ni boundaries. Figure 6
(b) shows the creep fracture face of this alloy and
again one WC facet is clearly covered in discrete fea-
tures formed by the binder phase.
3.2. EBSD analysis
Figure 7 shows a high-resolution SEM image of the
10M grade after creep testing which, when inspected
4 K. MINGARD ET AL.

Figure 2. Typical examples of microstructure after creep failure in a 6 wt-% Co F grade, at reducing distances from the final creep
fracture. The tensile direction is horizontal. (a, b) 4 mm from fracture (and thus effectively outside the high temperature zone,
unaffected by creep), (c, d) 1 mm from fracture, within the high temperature zone and (e, f) 0.25 mm from fracture face. Micron
marker bar in 2 (a, c and e) is 1 µm; the location of the enlargements in 2 (b, d and f) is shown by the box in the corresponding
lower magnification image. Arrows indicate features discussed in the text.

at higher magnification, enabled the identification of

all the grain boundaries showing penetration by Co.
It was observed that the smallest angle between the
penetrated boundaries and the tensile direction (hori-
zontal in the image) was 38° so there was a clear tendency
for these boundaries to tend towards perpendicular to
the applied stress. However, some of these perpendicular
boundaries did not show Co penetration. These are
identified by a white ring in Figure 7, and matching
these to the grain orientations revealed by the EBSD
map of the same area in Figure 8, shows that several of
these boundaries had prism-prism, basal-basal or
prism-basal plane orientation relationships.
3.3. Stress–strain curves
Having established some of the basic microstructural
features of creep which appear common to a wide
range of hardmetal grades, the following section
makes comparisons between similar grades to see if
small variations can account for the difference in
observed mechanical behaviour. Figure 9 shows
stress–strain creep curves for the three carbon ladder
samples of the 10 M grade, acquired at both 800 and
900°C. At the higher temperature there is an obvious
trend of increasing resistance to creep with decreasing
carbon content. The medium carbon grade sample did

Figure 3. Voids and Co precipitates or lamellae observed in three Co binder hardmetal grades (a, b) 10M, (c) 11F and (d) 10UF.
Arrows indicate grain boundary penetration by the binder phase.
not then follow this trend at 800°C but the difference
between low and high is repeated with the high carbon
sample showing, at both temperatures, a greater ten-
dency to deform at lower stresses during stage II
creep as well as failing at a lower overall stress in
stage III. Higher carbon contents reduce the liquidus
temperature of the binder phase, so it is possible that
the reduction in strength of the high carbon samples
is at least in part due to being tested at a higher hom-
ologous temperature.
Figures 10 and 11 show high-resolution images of
large areas of the low and high carbon 800°C samples,
respectively. These were acquired by stitching together
smaller images with a 5 nm pixel size to give total areas
of ≈ 60 × 60 µm and several thousand grain bound-
aries to inspect at resolutions similar to that shown
in Figure 2. While not visible at the resolution repro-
duced in the figures, close inspection shows that, as
might be expected from the previous results, large
numbers of boundaries show Co penetration as lamel-
lae or discrete islands in both samples, the majority
perpendicular to the stress axis. Where there is a sig-
nificant difference between the two samples is, how-
ever, in the voids formed at WC boundaries. In the
high carbon sample, at least 47 examples of voids
can be found, but more than 60% fewer are seen in
the low carbon sample; in the low carbon sample,
POWDER METALLURGY 5
most form between WC grains, particularly at triple
points between multiple WC grains. By contrast
about 25% of the voids in the high carbon sample
form along WC-Co boundaries. Whether these differ-
ences are an effect of testing the high carbon samples
at a higher homologous temperature or other changes
to properties of the binder phase or interface strengths
needs further investigation.
4. Discussion
In relating the microstructural behaviour observed
here to possible mechanisms for creep, it must be
noted that the fracture face and regions close to it
will show features of both secondary and tertiary
creep under tensile loading. The key features observed
in this work are the penetration of Co on WC-WC
grain boundaries and the formation of porosity,
often at WC-Co boundaries. Both features have been
observed before; Co penetration [2–5] and porosity
or grain boundary decohesion in [2,3], the latter
clearly under compression and secondary creep but
in three point bending and turning studies [4–6] the
stress state and creep stage is less clear cut. Most
reports of property measurement concentrate on the
steady state secondary creep and discussion of mech-
anisms also assumes this stage.
6 K. MINGARD ET AL.

Figure 4. (a–f) Series of cross sections milled by FIB in the 6F grade from the top surface of the sample shown here on the left of
the figures (tensile direction is vertical, along the long edge of each image).

However, the following examples from a 10SM
grade, in which one sample was strained to failure (ter-
tiary creep) and a second halted after secondary creep
before failure, suggests that valid comparisons can be
made with earlier work: both samples, tested at 900
°
C show the same features of voids and grain boundary
penetration already described even though the first
had only been tested to the late secondary stage. The
similarity of the strain applied to these two samples
before the tertiary creep stage is seen in Figure 12.
The lower curve shows strain against time for the
interrupted test sample for which loading was
removed after ≈0.65% strain produced by a stress of
450 MPa. The upper curve shows an identical sample
which was initially strained at 400 MPa before increas-
ing to 450 MPa and allowing continued strain into the
tertiary creep regime until failure at about 1% strain.
The images in Figure 13 show that voids (Figure 13
(a,b)) and Co penetration (Figure 13(c,d)) are seen in
both (the fractured and interrupted test) samples with
a similar appearance to these features shown in the
previous figures from other fractured samples. The
density of voids in the interrupted test is lower than
in the fractured sample, just as it is at a distance of a
few millimetres from the fracture of the failed speci-
men. From the similarity of the features seen after sec-
ondary and tertiary creep, it would seem reasonable to
conclude that comments on the mechanisms
 POWDER METALLURGY 7

Figure 5. SEM images of two sites on the creep fracture face of the 6F sample seen in Figure 2. (a) small islands or precipitates of
Co seen at random positions on faces of WC grains (see text for explanation of numbers), (b) aligned islands of Co on one WC grain
face.

Figure 6. Ni binder phase sample. (a) polished section close to fracture face (tension horizontal) with lamealle (black arrows),
precipitate (white arrows) and cracks/voids visible at WC-Ni and along WC-WC boundaries. (b) fracture face showing densely
packed precipitates, aligned, on one facet.

Figure 7. 10M grade with grain boundaries penetrated by Co ringed in black. Example boundaries close to perpendicular to stress
with no Co penetration ringed in white.

suggested by the failed samples described in the results
are still relevant to a general discussion of creep in the
context of earlier reported observations.
Void or porosity formation leading to failure is a
common feature in tertiary stage creep of metals.
From the 2D images shown in this paper, it might
be possible to conclude that some voids form at
Co-WC boundaries (e.g. top right of Figure 2(d),
Figure 3(b,a)) while other more crack-like voids at
WC-WC boundaries or triple points. The latter
would be consistent with the W-type wedge-shaped
crack formation mechanism when sliding on some
grain boundaries interacts with a non-deforming or
static grain [10]. However, the 3D interpretation
8 K. MINGARD ET AL.

Figure 8. EBSD map of area in Figure 7. (a) shows a cluster of slightly misoriented grains, with Co penetration between grains. (b–
d) show example boundaries with no Co penetration and with orientations close to basal-prism, prism-prism and basal-basal.

Figure 9. Creep curves for low, medium and high carbon binder phase samples (L, M, H) 10 M grade samples, for (a) 800°C and (b)
900°C. (lower case letters in graph legend refer to specific sample.

Figure 11. High carbon 10M grade with 47 voids ringed. 12

Figure 10. Low carbon 10M grade with 21 voids ringed. 3 WC-Co WC-Co boundary voids ringed in blue. Red lines show Co
boundary voids ringed in blue. Red lines show Co penetration. penetration.

possible from the sequence in Figure 4 suggests that and morphology of the voids at the WC-Co bound-
narrow cracks at WC-WC boundaries are linked to aries would seem to rule out the suggestion [3] of
larger voids formed at WC-Co boundaries. The size intergranular cavities arising from unaccommodated
 POWDER METALLURGY 9

Figure 12. 10SM samples strained to failure (black, upper Figure 14. Contrast variation in Co binder (cross hatched
curve) and interrupted after only secondary creep (green bright and dark bands) of 10M grade showing hcp formation
lower curve). in what was uniform contrast at room temperature from
nearly fully fcc binder, resulting from deformation at 800°C
during creep.
grain boundary sliding. The alternative explanation is
the significant diffusion of vacancies, along grain
the predominant observation in the current case is of
boundaries, and possibly generated by grain boundary
separate pockets or precipitates of Co along the length
sliding. Vacancy diffusion implies the mass transport
of a boundary, with a tendency to bulge into one grain
of Co in the opposite direction.
only while leaving a flat facet on the other, which
Indeed the penetration of Co between WC grains
matches with the TEM observation of [5]. The fracture
must clearly be by diffusion, with an additional driving
face observations suggest these precipitates can be
force of the applied stress since penetration was only
either randomly arranged in small islands or elongated
observed on boundaries closer to perpendicular to the
and aligned with one another.
tensile axis and thus more likely to be ‘opened’ by the
The implication of the precipitate morphology is
applied stress. Uniform thickness lamellae of Co have
that the grain boundary habit planes are probably
been seen in both SEM and TEM samples from com-
important in controlling the pattern of Co
pression [2,3] and machining samples [4,5]. However,

Figure 13. Secondary electron image (a) of tertiary creep 10SM sample strained to failure and (b) of secondary creep 10SM sample
at an equivalent (central) position to that of (a). (c, d) Backscatter electron images showing Co precipitation between WC grains.
10 K. MINGARD ET AL.
Figure 15. Examples of Co penetration in tensile creep at 800°C between irregular WC-WC boundaries which suggest some grain
boundary sliding may occur.
precipitates. Ostberg and Andren [5] show an
example where the flat face was a prism plane and
in one case the development of new facets on the
bulge faces. The EBSD mapping in Figure 8 was
not carried out with the resolution that would be
needed to look at the facet formation of the bulges,
but analysis of the orientation of the flat face is
possible. Of the 41 boundaries identified with lamel-
lae in Figure 7, 13 could be positively identified as
having a flat face with bulges into the other grain
and of these, 7 had a prism plane parallel to the
flat facet, 3 a basal plane and 3 no obvious align-
ment with any plane. Of the remaining infiltrated
boundaries, most were not resolved clearly enough
in the SEM image to determine if one face
remained flat. A few lamellae were neither paral-
lel-sided or flat/bulging and indeed were curved.
The observations from the EBSD map of some
boundaries that have not been penetrated with a
possible CSL2 tilt or twist type orientation between
the grains is in agreement with several other obser-
vations [1,4].
Ostberg and Andren suggest boundary infiltration
is stress assisted dissolution. In the current case, the
majority of the infiltrated boundaries were suitably
oriented, nearer to perpendicular than parallel to
the tensile axis, but the discontinuous Co suggests
that both diffusion between WC-WC boundaries
with some dissolution at specific points on the
boundaries. Diffusion of Co along WC-WC bound-
aries away from the main Co skeleton (and thus
vacancy diffusion in the opposite direction) might
be expected to account for some of the void for-
mation seen, but it will be noted that precipitates
arrowed in Figure 4 are not associated with voids
at adjacent interfaces.
The Co penetration has been suggested to be a
necessary precursor to grain boundary sliding, but in
this stress state, only a few of these penetrated bound-
aries have much alignment with the tensile axis so this
does pose the question of what mechanisms are
enabling creep in the current work. The temperature
of the tests is only 800°C which is much lower than
that in [1–3] and based on the summary by Mari
[11], this is below the temperature at which grain
boundary sliding (and certainly any WC deformation)
would be possible.
At this temperature, Mari suggests deformation of
the binder phase will be responsible. The image con-
trast seen in the binder phase in Figure 14 (an enlar-
gement from Figure 7) supports this mechanism,
with the binder phase that was largely FCC before
creep now showing multiple slip bands visible,
indexed in many cases as the HCP phase by
EBSD. Some caution is needed with the interpret-
ation as binder phase transformation does occur
on cooling from creep, and comparative studies on
non-crept samples would be needed to see if the
creep stress induces more HCP phase or HCP with
a different morphology than simple cooling of an
unstressed sample.
Some of the creep could be accounted for by void
formation, but the voids make up <0.5% by area so
substantially more of typically 1–1.5% strain must be
accounted for. The lamellae formation could just
result from dissolution of the WC grains, but the
examples in Figure 15 suggest some grain boundary
sliding with the lamellae then accounting for some
of the strain. While the void formation cannot account
for the full strain it is probably significant that the
number of voids increases with the increasing carbon
content of the binder phase.
5. Conclusions
Tensile creep behaviour of a range of hardmetal grades
has been studied between 800 and 900°C. This temp-
erature is low relative to many previous microstruc-
tural studies carried out at 1000°C or more. Despite
this, similar characteristic features have been observed
in the final microstructure:

(1) Co penetration along grain boundaries, most
commonly as multiple discrete precipitates rather
than the straight lamellae previously reported
(2) Voids which, when considered as 3D features, are
generally largest at WC-Co interfaces, narrowing
to smaller cracks at WC-WC interfaces
The Co precipitate structure is frequently
related to the boundary orientations of the two
WC grains between which they form. They appear
to grow into grains with random boundary orien-
tations and not into those with basal or prism
habit planes.
Void formation is difficult to explain as (a) they
appear large relative to the likely flux of vacancies
from WC-WC boundaries (and are not always near
WC-∼WC boundaries with precipitates) and (b) do
not appear to form by wedging open by rigid WC
skeletons.
The same features are observed in grain sizes ran-
ging from 0.4 to 2.8 µm and binder phase fractions
of 6–11wt-%, and also in samples with a Ni binder
phase. Evidence of binder phase deformation has
been observed in a Co containing material, but
void formation and grain boundary sliding may
also be occurring despite the relatively low creep
temperature. Despite the similar mechanisms
observed, the carbon content of the Co binder
phase was shown to have a significant effect on the
creep strength, with high carbon contents failing at
lower stresses.
Acknowledgements
Funding by Hilti, Sandvik and Ceratizit and from the
National Measurement System of the UK Government
Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy is
gratefully acknowledged. Members of the British Hardme-
tals Research Group are thanked for the provision of
samples.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).
POWDER METALLURGY 11
Funding
This work was supported by Department for Business,
Energy and Industrial Strategy [NMS].
ORCID
S. Norgren http://orcid.org/0000-0003-1471-8307
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