Synergistic enhancement of hardness‐toughness‐strength in TiC‐based cermets prepared by ultrafine TiC with WC addition

Abstract TiC‐based cermets with various WC contents were fabricated by high‐frequency spark plasma sintering (HF‐SPS) using the self‐synthesized ultrafine TiC powder (0.39 ± 0.14 µm). All specimens achieved relative densities exceeding 99.5%. WC addition significantly inhibited grain growth, and the sample containing 10 wt% WC showed the smallest average grain size of 0.62 ± 0.34 µm. A synergistic enhancement in hardness, toughness, and strength was achieved. Hardness exhibited an initial increase followed by a decrease with increasing WC content, whereas fracture toughness ( K IC ) displayed an inverse trend. Transverse rupture strength (TRS) continuously increased with higher WC content. The specimen containing 20 wt% WC demonstrated optimal comprehensive mechanical properties, with hardness, K IC , and TRS values of 1871 ± 9 HV 30 , 9.78 ± 0.20 MPa·m 1/2 , and 1592 ± 33 MPa, respectively. However, corrosion resistance decreased with increasing WC content. The synergistic enhancement resulted from fine grain strengthening, solid solution strengthening, ceramic‐binder interface strengthening, and improved microstructural homogeneity.