Modification of the WC-Co carbide surface with high-intensity pulsed ion beam

Abstract

The paper presents the results of WC-Co surface modification with high-intensity pulsed ion beams at high energy density 7-8 J/cm2 per one pulse. One, five and ten pulses regimes of irradiation have been studied using scanning electron microscopy of both the surface morphology and cross-section, X-ray diffraction analysis and a nano-hardness tester. Beam irradiation with high energy density resulted in phase transformation from hexagonal α-WC to cubic ß-WC1-x. XRD analysis shows that the volume content of new formed cubic phase in the modified layer is ∼ 97%.