In dieser Arbeit wurden das feldaktivierte Sinterverhalten sowie das geschwindigkeitsabhängige Druckfestigkeitsverhalten von WC-Co-Hartstoffen mit variierenden Bindergehalten untersucht. Dazu wurde eine Herstellungsroute für kornwachstumshemmerfreie near-nanokristalline WC-Co-Hartstoffe mit der Field Assisted Sintering Technique (FAST) entwickelt und genutzt, um Materialien mit Co-Gehalten von 2 bis 12 Ma.-% zu erzeugen. Gezielte Werkstoffzustände und Probengeometrien sind durch Anpassung des Sinterprozesses herstellbar. Ausgewählte WC-Co-Materialien mit Co-Anteilen von 6 bis 12 Ma.-% wurden unter Einfluss von Beanspruchungsgeschwindigkeit, Spannungszustand und Beanspruchungshäufigkeit hinsichtlich der Druckfestigkeit und des Versagensverhaltens charakterisiert.

L’amélioration des procédés de fabrication de matériaux de contacts électriques à base d’argent nécessite de mieux comprendre et maîtriser les mécanismes mis en jeu lors du frittage. Ce travail a pour objectif d’identifier et d’expliquer l’influence des paramètres d’élaboration des composites Ag-C-Ni et Ag-WC sur les mécanismes de frittage et les propriétés finales dans le cas d’un frittage conventionnel et par induction.La démarche expérimentale adoptée a consisté à réaliser en parallèle des essais de frittage conventionnel dans un dilatomètre permettant le suivi en continu de la déformation et dans un dispositif de chauffage par induction permettant d’obtenir des vitesses de chauffage élevées. Un intérêt particulier a d’abord été porté à l’influence de la poudre d’argent (morphologie et taux d’impuretés) afin d’identifier les mécanismes de densification de l’argent pur, avant d’étudier l’influence des poudres de renfort (nature, teneur et taille) sur le frittage des composites.L’analyse des résultats de ces essais de frittage a permis de montrer que des phénomènes de gonflement et de densification sont en compétition lors du chauffage. Nous avons déterminé, d’une part, que le gonflement pendant le frittage est le résultat d’un fluage local sous l’effet de la pression à l’intérieur de la porosité fermée, d’autre part, que celui-ci est influencé par la présence et la nature des renforts qui modifient la morphologie et la répartition de la porosité. Quant à la densification elle est induite par les mécanismes classiques de frittage.Enfin nous avons montré que le chauffage rapide par induction, en ne laissant pas assez de temps aux mécanismes de diffusion à longue distance, permet de favoriser les mécanismes de diffusion à courte distance comme la soudure des particules au détriment des mécanismes de densification liés à une diffusion à longue distance. Dans le cas de l’argent et des composites Ag-C-Ni, le frittage par induction permet donc d’atteindre une bonne consolidation avec un gonflement moindre qu’en frittage conventionnel, et d’obtenir ainsi de meilleures propriétés. / Improving the manufacturing of the silver-based electrical contacts requires a better understanding and control of specific mechanisms involved during sintering. This work aims at identifying and explaining the effect of composition and process parameters on sintering mechanisms and final properties of Ag-C-Ni and Ag-WC composites in conventional and induction sintering.Sintering experiments have been carried out in a conventional way in a dilatometer allowing for a continuous monitoring of deformation and in an induction heating device allowing for high heating rates. In a first step, we focused on silver powder parameters (morphology and impurity content) to identify the densification mechanisms involved during pure silver sintering. We then studied the effect of reinforcement powders (nature, amount and size) on the sintering of composites.The results of these experiments showed that swelling and densification phenomena are competing during heating. We have determined, on one hand, that the swelling observed during heating originates from the local creep induced by the pressure inside the closed porosity and, on the other hand, that this swelling is influenced by the presence and the nature of the reinforcements, which modify the morphology and distribution of pores. Meanwhile densification is induced by classical sintering mechanisms.Finally we have shown that fast induction heating does not allow enough time for long-distance diffusion mechanisms and thus favors short-distance diffusion mechanisms, in particular interparticle bonding, in comparison with densification and swelling mechanisms, which are associated to long-distance diffusion. In the case of pure silver and Ag-C-Ni composites, induction sintering therefore enables good consolidation with less swelling than conventional sintering, resulting in better final properties.

Made available in DSpace on 2014-12-17T14:57:41Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 GislaineBP.pdf: 2931348 bytes, checksum: a3914c6b0349281b46081bda792536cc (MD5) Previous issue date: 2008-03-19 / Hard metals are the composite developed in 1923 by Karl Schr?ter, with wide application because high hardness, wear resistance and toughness. It is compound by a brittle phase WC and a ductile phase Co. Mechanical properties of hardmetals are strongly dependent on the microstructure of the WC Co, and additionally affected by the microstructure of WC powders before sintering. An important feature is that the toughness and the hardness increase simultaneously with the refining of WC. Therefore, development of nanostructured WC Co hardmetal has been extensively studied. There are many methods to manufacture WC-Co hard metals, including spraying conversion process, co-precipitation, displacement reaction process, mechanochemical synthesis and high energy ball milling. High energy ball milling is a simple and efficient way of manufacturing the fine powder with nanostructure. In this process, the continuous impacts on the powders promote pronounced changes and the brittle phase is refined until nanometric scale, bring into ductile matrix, and this ductile phase is deformed, re-welded and hardened. The goal of this work was investigate the effects of highenergy milling time in the micro structural changes in the WC-Co particulate composite, particularly in the refinement of the crystallite size and lattice strain. The starting powders were WC (average particle size D50 0.87 μm) supplied by Wolfram, Berglau-u. Hutten - GMBH and Co (average particle size D50 0.93 μm) supplied by H.C.Starck. Mixing 90% WC and 10% Co in planetary ball milling at 2, 10, 20, 50, 70, 100 and 150 hours, BPR 15:1, 400 rpm. The starting powders and the milled particulate composite samples were characterized by X-ray Diffraction (XRD) and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) to identify phases and morphology. The crystallite size and lattice strain were measured by Rietveld s method. This procedure allowed obtaining more precise information about the influence of each one in the microstructure. The results show that high energy milling is efficient manufacturing process of WC-Co composite, and the milling time have great influence in the microstructure of the final particles, crushing and dispersing the finely WC nanometric order in the Co particles / O metal duro ? um comp?sito de matriz met?lica que tem grande aplica??o devido as suas propriedades, que aliam alta dureza e resist?ncia ao desgaste ? tenacidade. ? composto por uma fase fr?gil, o WC, e uma fase d?ctil, que pode ser o cobalto, o ferro ou o n?quel. Destes comp?sitos, o de maior destaque ? o WC-Co, que foi desenvolvido na d?cada de 20 e vem sendo estudado desde ent?o. As propriedades mec?nicas do comp?sito WC-Co, s?o dependentes das caracter?sticas microestruturais dos materiais de partida. Neste contexto, a obten??o do metal duro a partir de part?culas nanom?tricas vem sendo estudada. Existem v?rios m?todos de fabrica??o de metal duro WC-Co nanoparticulado, dentre as principais t?cnicas, a moagem de alta energia em moinho planet?rio, se mostra eficiente para este fim. Nesse processo, os p?s s?o submetidos a cont?nuos impactos, que provocam significativas altera??es em sua microestrutura. A fase fr?gil ? refinada at? a escala nanom?trica e a fase d?ctil ? deformada e soldada, formando placas, devido o excesso de deforma??o pl?stica, as placas tornam-se encruadas e sofrem fratura fr?gil. Simultaneamente as part?culas fr?geis s?o inseridas na fase d?ctil formando assim um comp?sito com matriz de cobalto pouco ou muito deformado e part?culas refinadas e dispersas de carbeto de tungst?nio. Estas caracter?sticas dependem das condi??es de moagem empregada. Neste trabalho foi realizada uma an?lise das caracter?sticas deste comp?sito quanto ao tamanho de cristalito, grau de encruamento, e morfologia. O principal objetivo deste trabalho ? investigar o efeito do tempo da moagem de alta energia nas altera??es microestruturais que ocorrem no comp?sito WC-Co, no que diz respeito ao refinamento das part?culas e a microdeforma??o da rede cristalina. Neste contexto foram utilizadas as t?cnicas de difra??o de raios X (DRX) e microscopia eletr?nica de varredura (MEV). A t?cnica utilizada para an?lise de tamanho de cristalito e microdeforma??o da rede cristalina foi o M?todo de Rietveld. Os resultados mostram que a moagem de alta energia foi eficiente na produ??o do comp?sito WC-Co com part?culas de WC nanom?tricas pouco ou muito encruadas

In dieser Arbeit wurden das feldaktivierte Sinterverhalten sowie das geschwindigkeitsabhängige Druckfestigkeitsverhalten von WC-Co-Hartstoffen mit variierenden Bindergehalten untersucht. Dazu wurde eine Herstellungsroute für kornwachstumshemmerfreie near-nanokristalline WC-Co-Hartstoffe mit der Field Assisted Sintering Technique (FAST) entwickelt und genutzt, um Materialien mit Co-Gehalten von 2 bis 12 Ma.-% zu erzeugen. Gezielte Werkstoffzustände und Probengeometrien sind durch Anpassung des Sinterprozesses herstellbar. Ausgewählte WC-Co-Materialien mit Co-Anteilen von 6 bis 12 Ma.-% wurden unter Einfluss von Beanspruchungsgeschwindigkeit, Spannungszustand und Beanspruchungshäufigkeit hinsichtlich der Druckfestigkeit und des Versagensverhaltens charakterisiert.

Tungsten carbide (WC) based metallic matrix coatings sprayed using high velocity air fuel (HVAF) technique have attracted increasing attention as they show excellent tribological performance in various wear conditions. In the HVAF method, particles’ in-flight temperature and velocity can be influenced by the process variables including nozzle configuration as well as feedstock particle size range. On the other hand, the chemistry of metallic binder can also play a key role in determining both properties and performance of these coatings. In this thesis, characteristics and tribological behaviour of HVAF-sprayed WC-based coatings were investigated employing four different nozzle configurations (4L2, 4L4, 5L2and 5L4), and three different feedstock particle sizes of WC-CoCr feedstock powder (5/20, 5/30 and 15/45 μm). Also, characteristics and performance of coatings processed with four different WC-based feedstocks comprising alternative binders to traditionally used CoCr (namely CoCr, NiMoCrFeCo,FeNiCrMoCu and FeCrAl) were investigated. Characteristics of the coatings were explored by conducting scanning electron microscopy observations, microindentation testing and X-ray diffraction analysis. Performance of the coatings was evaluated by conducting sliding wear, dry jet erosion wear and sand rubber wheel abrasion wear testing. Moreover, material removal mechanisms in the coatings subjected to the above tests were investigated through post wear analysis. X-ray diffraction analysis showed that no considerable phase change compared to the starting feedstock was observed in any of the coatings sprayed by HVAF technique. It was revealed that decrease in powder particle size range can result in an improvement in microstructural characteristics, such as homogeneity and density, as well as hardness of the coatings. Besides, it can lead to a substantial improvement in wear performance of the coatings. It was shown that using various nozzle configurations does not result in any considerable change in characteristics or performance of the HVAF-sprayed WC-CoCr coatings. It was further shown that, by decreasing particle sizes from coarse to medium or fine, a significant difference can be observed. While wear mechanisms for medium and fine feedstock coatings were dominated by ploughing and fracture of individual carbide grains, for the coarse feedstock coatings ploughing and grooving along with the local removal of coating material were observed. Hardness values for all the four coatings with different binder chemistries were in a narrow range of 1100 – 1300 HV0.3. WC-NiMoCrFeCo and WC-FeNiCrMoCu coatings showed better or comparable sliding wear performance compared to WC-CoCr coating (as reference). WC-FeNiCrMoCu and WC-FeCrAl coatings showed comparable performance under erosion conditions while all the three binder alternatives yielded slightly inferior coating performance under abrasion wear, compared to the reference coating. While ploughing was the common wear mechanism in all the four coatings, pitting was noted in coatings with CoCr and FeNiCrMoCu binders in case of sliding wear. / Populärvetenskaplig Sammanfattning Cermet-beläggningar består av WC-partiklar inbäddade i ett metallbindemedel,sprutat med High Velocity Air Fuel (HVAF) uppvisar utmärkt tribologiskprestanda under olika slitage förhållanden. Med HVAF-tekniken kan partiklarnasflygtemperatur och hastighet påverkas av konfigurationen av den utrustning somanvänds såväl som partikelstorleksintervallet för råmaterialet. Därtill kan kemin hos det metalliska bindemedlet spela en nyckelroll för beläggningarnas egenskaper och prestanda. I denna avhandling undersöktes egenskaper och tribologiskt beteende hos HVAF-besprutade WC-baserade beläggningar. Undersökningen gjordes genom att använda fyra olika uppsättningar av ändra sprutparametrar förHVAF-processen där fyra olika munstyckskonfigurationer (4L2, 4L4, 5L2 och5L4) och tre olika partikelstorleksintervaller av WC-CoCr råvarupulver (5/20,5/30 och 15/45 μm). Studieegenskaper och prestanda för alla deponerade beläggningar, påverkan av processvariabler (olika munstyckskonfigurationer och olika partikelstorlekar) undersöktes. Dessutom undersöktes egenskaper och prestanda för tre olika WC-baserade råvaror med alternativa bindemedel till CoCr (NiMoCrFeCo, FeNiCrMoCu och FeCrAl) och jämfördes med WC-CoCrbeläggningsom referens. Beläggningens egenskaper undersöktes genom att genomföra SEM-analys, mikroindragningstest och röntgenanalys. Beläggningens prestanda utvärderades genom att utföra glidförslitning, erosionsslitage under torra förhållanden och test med torr sand/gummihjulanordning. Vidare undersöktes mekanismer för materialavlägsning i beläggningarna med ovanstående tester genom analys efter slitage. Ingen avsevärd fasförändring observerades för alla beläggningar som besprutades med HVAF-teknik. Det avslöjades att minskning av pulvrets genomsnittliga partikelstorlek resulterade i en förbättring av mikrostrukturella egenskaper, såsom homogenitet och densitet, samt beläggningarnas hårdhetsvärde. Dessutom leder det till en avsevärd förbättring av beläggningens slitageförmåga. Det visades att användning av olika munstycken till HVAF-processen inte resulterar i en avsevärd förändring i egenskaper eller prestanda hos WC-CoCr-beläggningarna. När det gäller förslitningsmekanismer visades det att genom att minska partikelstorleken från grov till medium eller fin sågs en avsevärd skillnad. För beläggningar besprutade med fina och medelstora partiklar dominerades förslitningsmekanismer av plöjningsslitage och sprickor av enskilda hårdmetallkorn. För grova beläggningar observerades plöjningsslitage och spårning tillsammans med avlägsnande av material. Ingen signifikant skillnad i mikrostruktur eller fasförändring observerades i alla beläggningar med alternativa bindemedel såväl som WC-CoCr som referensbeläggning. Hårdhetsvärdet för alla de fyra beläggningarna låg inom x intervallet 1100 - 1300 HV0.3. NiMoCrFeCo och FeNiCrMoCu visade bättre eller jämförbar glidförmåga med referensbeläggningen. FeNiCrMoCu och FeCrAl visade jämförbara prestanda under erosionsförhållanden och alla de tre undersökta beläggningsmaterialen visade något sämre prestanda under nötningsslitage jämfört med referensbeläggningen. Medan plöjningsslitage var den vanliga förslitningsmekanismen i alla de fyra beläggningarna noterades gropning i beläggningarna CoCr och FeNiCrMoCu vid glidförslitning.

In the constant pursuit of better-performing cemented carbides, recent studies suggest that a combination of better hardness and toughness can be obtained by changing its WC grain size distribution. As the area is still rather unexplored, this  thesis  aims  to  broaden  the  knowledge  and  answer  whether mechanical properties can be changed by changing the WC grain size distribution, in the context of mining drill bit inserts. This was performed by producing four dual grained material as well as four single grained reference materials, for which the carbon content and presence of alloying element were varied. The materials were characterised and compared with regard to magnetic saturation, magnetic coercivity,  hardness,  fracture  toughness,  wear resistance,  energy  needed  to cause  fracture,  as  well  as  detailed microstructural  analysis  obtained  through imaging and electron backscatter diffraction analysis The results showed that mining drill bit inserts with alternative WC grain size distribution  could  successfully  be  produced,  but  that  a  traditional  bimodal distribution  with  two  peaks  could  not  be  obtained.  The  distribution instead became significantly wider as well as skewed towards larger grains for the dual grained materials compared with their references. It was further also confirmed that the alternative dual grain size distribution could be used to improve the mechanical properties of fracture toughness and wear resistance, but only for material that was not alloyed, and the magnitude of the improvement may be considered  to  be  small.  For  the  alloyed  materials,  it  turned  out  to  be more difficult to influence the mechanical properties, as the improving effect of analloying element outweighed the effect of grain size distribution. / I en ständig jakt på hårdmetall med bättre prestanda, så föreslår ny forskning att en bättre kombination av hårdhet och seghet kan erhållas genom att ändra den mikrostrukturiella  WC-kornstorleksfördelning.  Då  det  ännu  är  ett relativt outforskat område, så har denna studie för avsikt att öka kunskapen genom att besvara frågan om de mekaniska egenskaperna kan förändras genom att ändra på materialets kornstorleksfördelning inom applikationsområdet hårdmetall för bergborrning. Detta gjordes genom att producera fyra material med WC pulver av två olika storlekar, samt fyra referensmaterial med en kornstorlek. För dessa varierades parametrarna kolhalt och närvaro av legeringselement. Materialen karakteriserades och jämfördes med avseende på magnetisk mättnad, magnetisk koercivitet, hårdhet,  brottseghet,  slitstyrka,  energi  som  behövs  för  att  orsaka brott, samt  en  detaljerad  mikrostrukturanalys  som  erhölls  genom  avbildning samt elektrondiffraktionsanalys. Resultaten visade att material med alternativ WC-kornstorleksfördelning kunde produceras, men att en fullt bimodal fördelning inte gick att skapa i denna studie. Fördelningen blev istället betydligt bredare samt förskjuten mot större korn för materialen som innhöll WC av två olika storlekar. Det bekräftades också att den alternativa     kornstorleksfördelningen     kunde     förbättra     de     mekaniska egenskaperna för brottseghet och slitstyrka, men endast för de material som inte var legerade och storleken på förbättringen får dessutom anses vara relativt liten. För de legerade materialen visade det sig vara svårare att påverka de mekaniska egenskaperna,  eftersom  den  förbättring  av egenskaper  som  legeringselement tillförde överträffade effekten av kornstorleksfördelning.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of MetS among different African populations using the new Joint Statement Criteria. Hereafter we aimed to determine whether waist or neck circumference is the best predictor of MetS risk after ethnic, gender and age-specific cut-points were developed. Lastly, we aimed to determine whether afore-mentioned cut-point can predict albumin:creatinine ratio as a marker of target organ damage. Methods: The study sample (N=409) comprised of urban African (men, N=101; women, N=99) and Caucasian (men, N=101; women, N=108) teachers from the Dr. Kenneth Kaunda Education district in the North-West Province, South Africa. Participants were aged between 25 and 65 years. Anthropometric measurements, albumin:creatinine ratio and other markers of the metabolic syndrome (MetS) (systolic and diastolic blood pressure [SBP and DBP], glucose, triglycerides [TG] and high density lipoprotein [HDL]) were determined. Results: Africans (65 and 63 % for men and women) and Caucasian men (73%) showed high prevalence of MetS; ROC analysis determined neck circumference (NC) cut-points of 39 and 35 cm for young and older African men, 32 and 35 cm for young and older African women, 40 and 41 cm for Caucasian men and 34 and 33 cm for Caucasian women. This NC cut-point can be used to determine metabolic syndrome risk in all groups, except in African women; ROC developed waist circumference (WC) cut-points were 91 cm for all African male groups, 84, 81 and 84 cm for young, older and total group of African women. Suggested WC cut-points for Caucasian men were 93 cm for the young group and 97 cm for older as well as total Caucasian male groups, while cut-points for Caucasian women were 87 cm, 79 cm and 84 cm for young, older and total Caucasian women. These WC cut-points were good measures of metabolic syndrome risk in all groups; neither cut-point of WC nor NC could increase the risk of albumin:creatinine ratio. Conclusion: African women as a group present with few MetS risk factors and glucose is associated with renal function risk in Africans; NC cut-points may be used as an additional anthropometric marker to predict the metabolic syndrome in a South African cohort, but not in African women; WC cutpoints demonstrated to be good predictors of the metabolic syndrome in the same South African cohort, especially among men; WC would seem to be the best measure of MetS risk in all African populations, although NC can also be used for this purpose in all African populations, except in African women. / Thesis (PhD (Human Movement Science))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2012

O metal duro é um material compósito utilizado em diversas áreas de usinagem, mineração e construção civil, podendo ser aplicado diretamente em componentes de equipamentos de perfuração de petróleo e gás. O presente trabalho teve como objetivo principal a aplicação da técnica de moagem de alta energia visando produzir o compósito WC-Ni e estudar os efeitos do tempo de moagem nas propriedades do material. A moagem do metal duro WC-20Ni, partindo dos pós de WC e Ni, foi realizada para tempos de moagem de 1, 2, 4, 8, 16, 32 e 64 horas. Os pós de partida foram caracterizados por granulometria à laser, MEV e EDS. Nas amostras sinterizadas foi realizada análise microestrutural por microscopia ótica, medição de microdureza e medida de densidade pelo método de Arquimedes. Os melhores resultados para o compósito WC-20%Ni, foram conseguidos para o tempo de 8 horas de moagem, onde a densificação e dureza alcançaram após a sinterização 97,09% e 1058 ± 54 HV respectivamente. Tempos de moagem maiores que 8 horas foram prejudiciais nas propriedades do material. / The hard metal is a composite material used in several areas of machining, mining and construction, it can be applied directly in components of the drilling equipment for oil and gas. This work had as main objective the application of high energy milling technique to produce the composite WC-Ni and studying the effects of time milling in the material properties. The milling of hard metal WC-20Ni, from the WC and Ni powders, was performed for milling times of 1, 2, 4, 8, 16, 32 and 64 hours. The starting powders were characterized by laser granulometry, SEM and EDS. Microstrutural analysis of the sintered samples was performed by optical microscopy, microhardness and density by Archimedes. The best results for the composite WC-20%Ni, was achieved for 8 hours milling, where the density and hardness reached after sintering 97.09% and 1058 ± 54 HV respectively. Longer times of milling, after 8 hours milling, provided a detrimental effect on the properties of the material.

The present work was performed at AB Sandvik Coromant as a part in improving the knowledge and understanding about wear of uncoated WC/Co cutting tools during turning of titanium alloy Ti-6Al-4V. When machining titanium alloys, or any other material, wear of the cutting tools has a huge impact on the ability to shape the material as well as the manufacturing cost of the finished product. Due to the low thermal conductivity of titanium, high cutting temperatures will occur in narrow regions near the cutting edge during machining. This will result in high reaction and diffusion rates, resulting in high cutting tool wear rates. To be able to improve titanium machining, better knowledge and understanding about wear during these tough conditions are needed. Wear tests were performed during orthogonal turning of titanium alloy and the cutting tool inserts were analysed by SEM, EDS and optical imaging in Alicona InfiniteFocus. Simulations in AdvantEdge provided calculated values for cutting temperatures, cutting forces and contact stresses for the same conditions as used during wear tests. It was found that turning titanium alloy with WC/Co cutting tools at cutting speeds 30-60 m/min causes chamfering of the cutting tool edge and adhesion of a build-up layer (BUL) of workpiece material on top of the rake face wear land. The wear rate for these low cutting speeds was found to be almost unchanging during cutting times up to 3 minutes. During cutting speeds of 90-115 m/min, crater wear was found to be the dominating wear mechanism and the wear rate was found to have a linear dependence of cutting speed. An Arrhenius-type temperature dependent wear mechanism was found for high cutting speeds, between 90 and 115 m/min.

This paper aims to create a hard modification layer of WC/Co/Fe on the surface of SKD11 work steel by using a new closed-type method of surface electrical discharge coating with the self-made tool electrode and CNC electrical discharge machine. The tool electrode is the composition of a semi-sintered powder compacted electrode and a cooper rod. The sintered powder compacted electrode making process is first to mix the WC/Co and Fe powders uniformly at 8:1, 4:1, 2:1 and 1:1 in weight ratio. Continually, it will form the cylinder of 8mm in diameter and 18mm in length approximately by compacting in different pressure (50~200 MPa) and sintering temperature (300~900 ¢J). The EDM condition is 1~12A discharge current, 25~500£gs pulse time, and 50% duty factor. The electrical discharge machining is proceeding in kerosene with tool electrode as cathode and workpiece as anode. The result is as following. It can be concluded that the best condition to fabricate the sintered powder compacted electrode is 1:1 in weight ratio between WC/Co and Fe powders; with 200Mpa compacting pressure and sintering temperature at 900¢J, which results in lowest electrical resistivity. Under such condition, the area covered ratio can reach 100% at best EDM condition, which is pulse time £non = 50 £gs, rest time £noff = 50 £gs, 8A in current and 1.5 min in machining time. The surface hardness of workpiece increases with machining time. The surface hardness dramatically increases to Hv1500 as machining time over 1.5 min. The hardness of modification layer equals to the WC/Co particle itself which brings to the best wear ability. Moreover, the hardness of under surface in between 48 £gm is much higher than it of the SKD11 work steel. The hardness in between 30 £gm can reach up to Hv1200 in particular. The hardness of surface modification layer increases linearly with machining time. However, the limit of surface modification layer is about 30 £gm, and the needed time is below 5 min.