The densification and mechanical properties of a TiC and TiB₂ hardmetal sintered with a reactive alloy binder

It is proposed that potential binders for transition metal carbides and borides used as hardmetals can be predicted from an understanding of the nature of bonding in these materials, in particular the partly-filled d-states. Here an attempt is reported to apply a model based on this concept to select a binder for a TiC + TiB₂ hardmetal. A reasonable level of densification in the hardmetal based on this approach is observed. Improvements are also observed in the mechanical properties of the TiC + TiB₂ hardmetal when compared with those reported for TiC + TiB₂ systems fabricated by other techniques reported in the literature. Our proposed model is to be used with thermodynamic and phase equilibria data.