Structure of the surface layer of a hard-metal cold-upsetting tool

In the structure of the WC and Co phases making up VK20K hard metal the presence was discovered, in the as-sintered condition, of dislocations and twins, which may be attributed to the generation, during the postsintering cooling of the alloy, of large thermal stresses as a result of the difference in the coefficients of thermal expansion of its tungsten carbide grains and metallic cobalt interlayers. Operation increased the number of dislocations and twins and brought about fragmentation of twins in the Co and WC phases, which is evidence that their wear was preceded by appreciable plastic deformation. In the structure of VK20K alloy in the as-sintered condition and in its surface layer after wear the carbide W2C was found on the surface of the carbide WC between the WC grains and Co-phase interlayers, and it is therefore reasonable to assume the existence under such conditions of an extremely thin transition layer of virtually pure tungsten.