The activation energy in bending creep up to 2 hr in WC-Co alloy was investigated at 900-1000°C as a function of cobalt and carbon contents, triple carbide contents, carbide grain size and domain size of binder phase.
It was found that the activation energy increased with decreasing cobalt content and increasing amount of additional triple carbide, and it was almost in no relation to the other factors such as carbon content, carbide grain size, etc. It was suggested that the creep deformation of cemented carbides was generally controlled by an atomic diffusion at carbide-carbide interfaces as well as the diffusion in binder phase.