More and more attention is being paid to the influence of powder mixing on the mechanical properties and corrosion resistance of WC-based cemented carbides. In this study, WC was mixed with Ni and Ni/Co, respectively, by chemical plating and co-precipitated-hydrogen reduction, which are labelled as WC-Ni^EP, WC-Ni/Co^EP, WC-Ni^CP and WC-Ni/Co^CP, respectively. After being densified in a vacuum, the density and grain size of CP were denser and finer than those of EP were. Simultaneously, the better mechanical properties of flexural strength (1110 MPa) and impact toughness (33 kJ/m²) were obtained by WC-Ni/Co^CP due to the uniform distribution of WC and binding phase and solid solution enhancement of the Ni-Co alloy. In addition, the lowest self-corrosion current density of 8.17 × 10⁻⁷ A·cm⁻², a self-corrosion potential of −0.25 V and the biggest corrosion resistance of 1.26 × 10⁵ Ω in 3.5 wt % NaCl solution were obtained by WC-Ni^EP because of the presence of the Ni-Co-P alloy.

The development of low-cost high-entropy alloys is promising to address the demands of expanding industrial applications. In the present research, Co-free FeNiCr medium-entropy alloys were prepared by arc melting and post-processing treatments. The influence of Fe content on the microstructure, mechanical properties and corrosion resistance of these alloys were clarified. The results show that the FeNiCr medium entropy alloys exhibit a single face-centered cubic structure. These alloys consist of a multitude of fine grains and a high density of annealing twining boundary distributed at the interface of the larger grains. The Fe40Ni30Cr30 exhibits both high strength and excellent elongation. The excellent mechanical properties of FeNiCr alloys are mainly attributed to the solid solution strengthening, grain boundary strengthening, twinning induced plasticity (TWIP) effect, dimples toughening, and micropores toughening. The increase in Fe content has been observed to impede the segregation of Cr, dislocation pinning, and the nucleation of grains at the grain boundaries, leading to an increase in elongation and a reduction in strength. In addition, the electrochemical experimental results show that a stable passivation film is formed on the surface of Fe40Ni30Cr30 alloy during the corrosion process, which reduces the corrosion rate and improves the corrosion resistance of the alloy.

The efficient fabrication of high-quality Ni60-WC composite coatings with low dilution and defect density remains a challenge for wear-critical tunneling cutters. In this study, a plasma–laser hybrid cladding (PLHC) strategy was developed to fabricate Ni60-40 wt% WC composite coatings, and their microstructures and properties were systematically compared with those produced by plasma cladding (PC) and laser cladding (LC). The PLHC coatings exhibit a low dilution rate of 10.7% and an ultra-low porosity of 0.2%, indicating improved metallurgical integrity. Microstructural analysis reveals that the hybrid energy input effectively suppresses WC dissolution and promotes a refined, uniformly distributed hard-phase network within the Ni-based matrix. As a result, the PLHC coatings achieve a high average microhardness of 1187.83 HV_1.0 and superior wear resistance, with a wear volume of 24.69 × 10⁻³ mm³ under a 200 N load, representing reductions of 53.6% and 20.9% compared with PC and LC coatings, respectively. These results demonstrate the effectiveness of plasma–laser hybrid cladding in tailoring the microstructure–property relationship of WC-reinforced composite coatings.