Fabricating and Characterization of MPEA Binder Phase Cemented Carbide and Its Comparison with WC-Co

The development and research of physically superior multi-principal element alloy (MPEA) binders as cemented carbide binders is a hot topic. In this work, we fabricated a new type of MPEA binder-cemented carbide using the powder metallurgy method and investigated the effects of ball milling parameters and sintering temperature on the microstructure and mechanical properties of the cemented carbide. The results are compared with those of cobalt binder samples under the same conditions. The results show that the ball milling parameters for low-speed long ball milling time are superior to those for high-speed low ball milling time. Compared with the pure cobalt binder, MPEA binder-cemented carbide significantly slows down the growth of WC grains, improves the mechanical properties of cemented carbide, and achieves a combination of TRS of 2741.5 MPa and Rockwell hardness of 91.1 HRA. The multi-principal element alloy (MPEA) binder has the potential to become an excellent substitute for Co.