Discussion on Importance of Tungsten Carbide – Cobalt (WC-Co) Cemented Carbide and Its Critical Characterization for Wear Mechanisms Based on Mining Applications

Cemented carbide (CC) is an important material for the mining tools. During mining applications, the service life of the CC gets highly reduced due to complex conditions offered by mines. In various applications, such as, rock drilling and coal cutting, the tools show different type of wear behaviour. Wear assessment has been an important area of research for a long time. In order to develop improved mechanical properties in the tools, it is necessary to know the characteristics and cause of wear mechanisms. For analyzing wear mechanisms in the CC, researchers have adopted mainly three different conditions. They are: rock drilling, coal cutting, and laboratory wear test methods. In the present work, an attempt has been made to review and summarize all those wear mechanisms found in the CC. The causes and effects of each mechanism are also explained comprehensively. In addition, various properties of recently developed cemented carbide have also been discussed.