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- Nb12O29 (1)
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- Niobium carbide (NbC) (1)
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Organisationseinheit der BAM
Niobium carbide for wear protection - tailoring its properties by processing and stoichiometry
(2016)
Niobium carbide is a hardly explored carbide but its functional profile shows a high potential for wear protection and tribological applications, which are currently dominated by tungsten carbide. Surprisingly little information is available on niobium carbide (NbC). Niobium carbide can be either synthesized by carbothermal conversion of Nb2O5 or be metallurgically grown and leached out. Furthermore, NbC hardmetal grades can be bonded by all known metallic binders and processed and sintered in exactly the same way as WC-based hardmetals. Niobium is today largely available. NbC can be efficiently produced, provides comparably low friction in many relevant tribo-contacts and displays low wear. NbC and Nb2O5 have so far no REACH classification related to human toxicology and are not listed as substances of very high concern contrary to WO3 and Co3O4. This contribution demonstrates the key characteristics of NbC and discusses its sustainability and reliable value chain.
NbC has a relatively high hardness (19.6 GPa) and melting temperature (3600 °C) and is usually applied as a grain growth inhibitor in WC–Co hardmetals. The current study reports on the influence of the sintering technology and overall chemical composition on the microstructure and mechanical properties of NbC-based hardmetals, using Co as a binder. The partial replacement of NbC by 5 wt.% WC, Mo2C, VC or TiC allows one to significantly improve the hardness and toughness of the NbC–Co materials. The influence of different binders, i.e., Co, 316L stainless steel and Fe3Al on the microstructure and mechanical properties of NbC-based hardmetals was also investigated. The powder mixtures were sintered in the solid state by PECS and liquid state by conventional vacuum sintering. Detailed microstructural analysis was conducted by EPMA elemental mapping and WDS point analysis. Mechanical properties, including Vickers hardness and indentation toughness were assessed.
Substitution of tungsten carbide by niobium carbide as cutting materials and for wear protection
(2016)
Several phases, like Nb₄ C₃ , Nb₆C₅ and other short and long range ordered phases occur in the region of homogeneity of NbCₓ (0.75 ≤ x ≤ 1.0) in the binary phase diagram. Properties, like micro-hardness, hot hardness, sliding wear resistance, elastic modulus and toughness can be tailored by the C/Nb ratio, the addition of secondary carbides and the type of binder. Supporting results from different grades with varying C/Nb ratio or binder types were illuminated. Thus, the NbC system offers to producers a wider process window, than WC. The impact of these tailored properties on sliding wear and cutting performance was illuminated by tribological and machining results.
Niobium is today largely available. NbC can be synthesized by carbothermal conversion of Nb₂O₅ or be metallurgically grown and leached out, provides comparably low friction in many relevant tribo-contacts and displays low wear. NbC and Nb₂O₅ have so far no REACH classification related to human toxicology and are not listed as substances of very high concern contrary to WO₃ and Co₃ O₄ .
Research and development of WC grades is 90 years ahead of niobium carbide-based hard materials, which showed already as light-weight and unexplored material a very high potential for many technical applications, especially for wear protection and machining. NbC evoluted recently from lab scale to pilot scale, especially in areas where established WC-based materials are causing economic, environmental or technical concerns. Benchmark trials of NbC-based hard metals indicated already a favorable performance in machining of steel components.
Full densification of Fe, Co and Ni bonded NbC based cermet’s was achieved by pressure less liquid phase sintering in vacuum for one hour at 1420°C. The hardness and toughness of the NbC matrix cermet’s can be mainly tailored by the binder composition and secondary carbide additions. Ni binder based NbC cermet’s allow the combination of high hardness and improved toughness. The addition of lesser amounts of VC/Cr3C2 in a NbC partially substituted WC-Co cemented carbide increased significantly the hardness in combination with a moderate fracture toughness.
In the present work it was shown that the addition of VC or a combination of VC + Ti(C0.7N0.3) was efficient in reducing the NbC grain growth during liquid phase sintering, when compared to NbC-Ni equivalents. A finest NbC grain size of 1.48 µm was obtained in the NbC-15 Ti(C0.7N0.3)-10 Ni-7.5 VC cermet, exhibiting a hardness of 1486 +/- 7 kg/mm2 and a fracture toughness of 8.7 +/- 0.1 MPa m 1/2.
The origin of the intrinsic wear resistance of NbC-based materials is investigated through an assessment of the tribological performance of fully dense, crack-free spark plasma sintered Nb2O5 (here as a reduced polymorph: monoclinic Nb12O29 or NbO2.416). The most likely wear mechanism on NbC is the tribo-oxidation to Nb2O5. The unlubricated (dry) friction and wear behavior of alumina (99.7%) mated against rotating disks of crack-free niobium(V)oxide (Nb2O5) under unidirectional sliding (0.03–10m/s; 22°C and 400°C) and oscillation (f=20 Hz, dx=200 mm, 2/50/98% rel. humidity, n=105/106 cycles) will be presented. The microstructure and mechanical properties of the crack-free Nb2O5 are assessed. The tribological data obtained are benchmarked with different NbC grades, ceramics, cermets and thermally sprayed coatings.
The sales of niobium carbide (NbC) have grown in the last years, but NbC is still a hidden carbide and mainly used as grain growth inhibitor in hard metals. In the present work it was shown that the progress in the key properties, like HV30, KIC and strength, followed by machining and tribological results of the respective NbC grades.
The current study reports on the influence of the Addition of 5–15 vol% VC or/and Mo2C carbide on the microstructure and mechanical properties of nickel bonded NbC cermets, which are compared to cobalt bonded NbC cermets. The NbC, Ni and secondary carbides powder mixtures were liquid phase sintered for 1 h at 1420 °C in vacuum. The fully densified cermets are composed of a cubic NbC grains matrix and an evenly distributed fcc Ni binder. NbC grain growth was significantly inhibited and a homogeneous NbC grain size distribution was obtained in the cermets with VC/Mo2C additions. The mechanical properties of the NbC-Ni matrix cermets are strongly dependent on the carbide and Ni binder content and are directly compared to their NbC-Co equivalents.
The liquid phase sintered NbC-12 vol% Ni cermet had a modest Vickers hardness (HV30) of 1077 ± 22 kg/mm2 and an indentation toughness of 9.1 ± 0.5 MPa·m1/2. With the addition of 10–15 vol% VC, the hardness increased to 1359 ± 15 kg/mm2, whereas the toughness increased to 11.3 ± 0.1 MPa·m1/2. Addition of 5 and 10 vol% Mo2C into a NbC-12 vol% Ni mixtures generated the same values in HV30 and KIC when compared to VC additions. A maximum flexural strength of 1899 ± 77 MPa was obtained in the cermet with 20 vol% Ni binder and 4 vol% VC+4 vol% Mo2C addition, exhibiting a high fracture toughness of 15.0 ± 0.5 MPa·m1/2, but associated with a loss in hardness due to the high Ni content. The dry sliding wear behaviour was established at room temperature and 400 °C from 0.1 to 10 m/s.
Niobium is today largely available. The initial NbC grade was substoichiometric, SPS sintered and cobalt bonded (NbC0.88-12Co SPS). The NiMo-bonded stoichiometric NbC1.0 grades enable the subtituion of cobalt by nickel, SPS by conventional sintering and NbC0.88 by NbC1.0 in view of functional properties. Nickel bonded NbC grades have improved toughnesses versus cobalt bonded NbC grades, but lose hardness. NiMo and NiMo2C bonded NbC1.0 grades compensated the loss in hardness while keeping the toughness.
The current study reports on the effect of the sintering temperature and secondary carbide (VC, Mo2C and TiC) additions on the microstructure and concommitant Vickers hardness (HV30) and fracture toughness of Ni-bonded NbC cermets. All cermets were prepared by pressureless sintering in vacuum. Detailed microstructural investigation was performed by electron probe microanalysis (EPMA) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis. Sintering results indicated that both the sintering temperature and secondary carbide additions had a significant effect on the properties of NbC-Ni cermets. Nickel pools and residual pores were observed in the cermets sintered at temperatures ≤ 1340 °C. Increasing of the sintering temperature up to 1420 or 1480 °C resulted in fully densified NbC-Ni based cermets composed of homogeneous contrast cubic NbC grains for the single carbide (VC or Mo2C) modyfied system, whereas core-rim structured NbC grains were observed with the additon of TiC + VC or TiC+Mo2C. The secondary carbide doped cermets with 5–10 vol.% VC/Mo2C and 10 vol.% TiC showed a significantly improved hardness and fracture toughness, as compared to the plain NbC-Ni cermets.