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Abstract
The effect of the laser engineered net shaping (LENS) process on the microstructure and mechanical properties of (Ti,W)C–Ni solid solution cermets was investigated. Nano-(Ti,W)C–Ni powder was synthesised, spray dried and densified by two different processes: sintering and LENS. Furthermore, all results were compared with conventional micrometre sized TiC–WC–Ni cermets. Solid solution (Ti,W)C–Ni cermets made by sintering resulted in a coreless and ultra fine microstructure, while the LENS processed specimens revealed inhomogeneous microstructure and particle coarsening. The hardness values of the LENS processed specimens range from 15 to 20 GPa, which is higher than for the ultra fine and conventional sintered composites (∼12 GPa). The measured toughness values show greater variability.
