In order to study the high-temperature and high-pressure sintering of binderless tungsten carbide (WC), X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, universal testing machine, and microhardness tester among others were adopted to characterize the phase composition, microstructure and mechanical properties of the WC samples. The results show that the relative density, hardness and fracture toughness of the samples increase as the sintering temperature rises. It is found that WC sample prepared by sintering at 1 500 ℃ can exhibit excellent comprehensive mechanical properties, with relative density of 99.5%, hardness of 2 885HV, and fracture toughness of 9.50 MPa·m^1/2.

tungsten carbide  /  high-temperature and high-pressure  /  binderless  /  sintering  /  hardness  /  relative density  /  fracture toughness  /  cemented carbide