Surface characteristics and removal mechanism of cemented tungsten carbides in nanoscratching

The surface characteristics and removal mechanism of cemented tungsten carbide materials with different grain sizes in nanoscratching were investigated. The tests with different scratching patterns were used. The results showed that the fine-grain material exhibited different removal characteristics from the coarse-grain one. The roughness of the scratched surface on the fine-grain material was much smaller than that on the coarse-grain material. The removal rate of the coarse-grain material associated with the nanoscratching process was much greater than that of the fine-grain material. The microstructure of the two materials apparently affected their deformation and removal mechanisms involved in the nanoscratching, thus the surface roughness and the removal rate. The results obtained from the lapping experiment supported the findings from the nanoscratching test. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved