Niobium is today largely available. NbC displayed lower dry sliding friction over WC grades. The softer Ni- and NiMo-bonded NbC1.0-grades have a higer abrasive wear resistance (ASTM G65), even with lower toughnesses, than the tougher WC-Co grades and harder NbC-Co grades.
The aim of this work was to correlate the carbon content in NbC-Ni starting powders with the resulting microstructure, hardness and fracture toughness of Ni-bonded NbC cermets.