Improving wear-resistance of high speed steel tools by carbide coating

One of the methods adopted for improving the performance of high speed steel tools is known as 'spark-hardening'. The process involves deposition of wear-resistant materials like tungsten-carbide on high speed steel. The equipment employed is similar to that used in early spark-erosion machines, using an R-C relaxation circuit. This paper deals with the characteristics of the deposited layer and the performance of the treated tools. The deposited layer consists of an etch-resistant outer layer and an intermediate diffusion layer. There exists an optimum time of treatment depending on the spark-energy for the maximum transfer of material. Correspondingly there is an optimum spark-energy and specific time of treatment for the best performance of treated tools. © 1974.