An indentation and stress analysis of WC/Fe-Mn hardmetals

229-235Vickers indentation has been applied experimentally to the produced hardmetal, WC-Fe 13.5 wt% Mn. It has been observed that the Palmqvist type cracks occur on the substrate hardmetal. The mechanical examination prove that the produced alloy possesses higher hardness, and unavoidably a bit lower fracture toughness than the equivalent of cobalt bonded grades. This could lead such hardmetal alloys to be used in mining and wear-resistant applications with better reliability. Three-dimensional stress analysis has been conducted using the finite element method on the basis of elastic failure due to brittleness of the material showing ignorable plastic deformation