Following hard metals under extreme conditions
Cemented carbides combine hard tungsten carbide (WC) grains with a tougher, Co-rich binder. This balance gives cutting and rock-drilling tools their wear resistance and toughness, but it is challenged in service by high temperatures and mechanical loads.
In a newly published study, Scatterin and collaborators used in-situ synchrotron X-ray diffraction at Diamond Light Source to follow plain and Cr-doped WC-Co as the materials deformed at 1000 °C under compressive stresses up to 900 MPa.
The experiment made it possible to resolve how the WC and Co-rich binder phases carried load throughout the test—information that cannot be obtained from macroscopic deformation data alone.
A 230 MPa difference inside the material
At the same macroscopic deformation, the WC phase in the Cr-doped material carried approximately 230 MPa higher compressive stress than WC in the undoped material. The Co-rich binder in the Cr-doped material also sustained higher tensile stresses.
Chromium changes how load is shared between WC and the Co-rich binder, helping explain the improved high-temperature deformation and creep resistance of Cr-doped cemented carbides.
The phase-specific results point to several mechanisms acting together, including solid-solution strengthening in the binder and changes in WC/Co and WC/WC interface chemistry. By observing the response during deformation, the study connects these microstructural effects to material performance under realistic high-temperature loading.
From beamline data to phase-specific stress
Scatterin's data analysis software supported calibration, diffraction-data processing, and phase-specific strain and stress analysis. That connected workflow helped turn the in-situ measurements into a synchronized view of how each phase responded over time.
This is the model behind Scatterin's consulting-led measurement programs: experimental planning, facility access, beamline execution, analysis, and traceable results brought together with the Scatterin Platform. For industrial R&D teams, the outcome is evidence that can guide alloy design, process development, and performance validation.
Publication and collaboration
The paper, In-situ synchrotron X-ray diffraction investigation of microstructure evolution in Cr-doped cemented carbide during high-temperature creep deformation, was published in the International Journal of Refractory Metals and Hard Materials.
The work brought together Scatterin, Materials Science at KTH, Sandvik Mining, Sandvik Coromant, Seco Tools, the National Physical Laboratory, The University of Manchester at Harwell, Diamond Light Source, Chalmers University of Technology, and Lund University.
Read the publication: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijrmhm.2026.108016
The publisher's limited-time full-text access link is available in the original Scatterin announcement on LinkedIn.