| Summary: | Fracture toughness is critical for the fatigue life of the cemented carbide coatings widely used in the aviation fields, and the development of an economical and effective post-treatment method is in demand. In this research, pulsed magnetic treatment was applied to the thermal spraying WC-10Co4Cr coating with a 17.7% improvement in its fracture toughness, and the strengthening mechanism was further investigated. Microstructure characterization indicates that structural relaxation took place in the amorphous Co binder, and the annihilation of some free volume holes mainly contributes to the mechanical property enhancements. Atomic migration related to the structural relaxation was further explained in terms of the magnetic field induced intersystem crossing. Improvement of both the nano-hardness and elastic modulus of the Co binder was also observed as a result of structural relaxation. This work provides a possible non-thermal post-treatment method for not only the different kinds of cemented carbide coatings but also other amorphous functional materials sensitive to crystal defects.
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