Effect of vanadium on microstructure and performance of tungsten carbide hardfacing alloys

In this study, the vanadium content from 0% to 3% were introduced into the tungsten carbide electrodes to prepare hardfacing layer. The products were analyzed by SEM, XRD and EDS, and the effects of vanadium content on the variation of microstructure, abrasive wear resistance and dissolution of the tungsten carbide hardfacing layer was investigated. Result shows that the tungsten carbide dissolution depends on vanadium concentration, as the primarily formed vanadium carbide particles around tungsten carbide retrain the dissolution of tungsten carbide; the amount of vanadium concentration determines the intensity of the dissolution of tungsten carbide, the alloy with 2% vanadium effectively retains the dissolution of tungsten carbides in the alloy. While the vanadium carbide particles increase the matrix hardness to avoid tungsten carbide peel off, hence to improve the abrasive wear resistance of the hardfacing layer.