Sun Kwang Hwang

Tungsten carbide-cobalt (WC-Co) alloys have various mechanical properties according to their Co content and manufacturing method. High-strength materials such as WC-Co alloys are usually manufactured using various sintering methods. In this study, WC-Co was compared according to the Co content and manufacturing method using the sinter-hot isostatic pressing process. Furthermore, an additional test was performed to investigate the effect of post-hot isostatic pressing (HIP) treatment on the mechanical properties. To compare tensile strength, threaded end and shoulder end specimens are generally applied in axial tensile testing with hard metals. However, it is extremely difficult to shape WC-Co by machining. A tensile testing jig for a shoulder end specimen is, therefore, proposed. Tensile tests were conducted using the proposed jig, and microstructure, hardness, and impact tests were carried out to compare the mechanical properties. The microstructure evolution was obtained by decreasing the Co content and applying the HIP treatment, resulting in changes in Young’s modulus and strength. The results indicated that the proposed jig of the axial tensile test could be applied to the extremely hard WC-Co, and the mechanical properties of WC-Co could be modified by the Co content and HIP treatment control.

A multi-stage cold forging process was developed and complemented with finite element analysis (FEA) to manufacture a high-strength one-body input shaft with a long length body and no separate parts. FEA showed that the one-body input shaft was manufactured without any defects or fractures. Experiments, such as tensile, hardness, torsion, and fatigue tests, and microstructural characterization, were performed to compare the properties of the input shaft produced by the proposed method with those produced using the machining process. The ultimate tensile strength showed a 50% increase and the torque showed a 100 Nm increase, confirming that the input shaft manufactured using the proposed process is superior to that processed using the machining process. Thus, this study provides a proof-of-concept for the design and development of a multi-stage cold forging process to manufacture a one-body input shaft with improved mechanical properties and material recovery rate.

Rhodium is a rare material that is widely used in electrical and electronic components due to its excellent mechanical and electrical properties. Ultra-fine rhodium wires in particular are widely used in electronic components. In this study, a multi-pass wire drawing process was designed to fabricate ultra-fine pure rhodium wire with a diameter of 50.0 µm from an initial diameter of 80.0 µm, which is used as probe card pins. An elastic–plastic finite element (FE) analysis was performed to validate the pass schedule that was designed for this study. A fine wire drawing experiment was also carried out to verify the effectiveness of the designed process. As a result, the ultra-fine rhodium wire was fabricated using the design process without wire breaks and the diameter of the final drawn wire was 47.80 µm.