WC–Co/316L stainless steel bonding enhancement by laser surface texturing and pressure-assisted sintering

WC–Co cutting tools are widely used in harsh conditions, but the brittleness of this material can limit their use. Joining steels to WC–Co can provide an alternative, by combining the toughness of steel with the high hardness and wear resistance of WC–Co. The creation of textures at the bonding interface is known to increase the adhesion between materials, through a mechanical interlocking effect and an increase in the contact area. In this sense, this work proposes the laser surface texturing of WC–Co green compacts with cross-hatched and circular micropatterns and subsequent pressure-assisted sintering of the textured and sintered WC–Co with 316L SS powder to improve the bonding between materials. Results showed that the bonding of the textured multi-material was successfully processed and an interdiffusion zone was formed at the bonding interface without the presence of detrimental compounds. The addition of textures showed a tendency to increase the shear bond strength, with the cross-hatched micropatterns generally showing a higher bonding strength than the circular micropatterns. This approach showed to have the potential to improve the bonding between materials, thus contributing to the development of novel multi-material WC–Co/316L stainless steel cutting tools with enhanced properties and performance.