Cemented tungsten carbide with functionally designed microstructure and surface and methods for making the same

Abstract

A method of forming a functionally designed cemented tungsten carbide can include forming a particulate matrix mixture including a primary particulate tungsten carbide and a primary particulate metal binder. A particulate enhancement mixture can be formed having a secondary particulate tungsten carbide, a secondary particulate metal binder, and a particulate grain growth inhibitor, where the enhancement mixture has a finer particle size than the matrix mixture. The particulate matrix mixture can be assembled with the particulate enhancement mixture to form a structured composite where the matrix mixture forms a continuous phase and the enhancement mixture forms at least one of a dispersed granular phase and a surface layer adjacent the continuous phase to form the structured composite. This structured composite can be sintered to form the functionally designed cemented tungsten carbide having a differential grain size with the enhancement phase having a smaller grain size than the matrix phase.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.