ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING OF CERAMIC MATERIALS

Abstract

Tungsten Carbide (WC) which typically exists in a form of cemented carbide system is one of the advanced ceramics that is commonly used for wear resistance application because of its excellent mechanical properties. Cobalt (Co) is the commonly used binder for this cemented carbide system due to its excellent wetting and comminution properties with W to enhance the mechanical properties. Due to the toxicity and scarcity of Co, Iron (Fe) alloy is one of the alternative binder considered for WC cemented carbide system. For this thesis, WC-Fe alloy cemented carbide precursor powders are utilised for feasibility studies on the additive manufacturing of such material through robocasting and cold spraying.