Selective Laser Sintering Preparation and Tribological Testing of Nanostructured Tungsten Carbide-Cobalt Composites

This paper describes the results to date ofresearch done to compare and contrast the tribological properties ofnanostructured tungsten carbide-cobalt composites consolidated by selective laser sintering (SLS) and conventional grain size composites ofthe same chemical composition consolidated by conventional commercial methods. The powder preprocessing and selective laser sintering methods will briefly be described. The tribological testing methods will be discussed, and the tribological properties ofthe selective laser sintered and commercially consolidated materials will be compared. It will be seen that the nanosized WC-Co composites have far superior harness and wear resistance compared to their microsized counterparts.