Electrical and magnetic properties

Conductivity

As a consequence of the low resistivity, WC-Co cemented carbides are good conductors, having a value around 10% of that of the copper standard. Alloying with g-phase forming carbides (e.g., titanium carbide) reduces this value considerably.

Due to the presence of cobalt (and nickel) in the binder phase, cemented carbides show ferromagnetic properties at room temperature.

Curie temperature

The transition of the cobalt binder phase from the ferromagnetic to the paramagnetic state occurs in a temperature range of ~950 to 1,050°C depending on the alloy composition.

Permeability

Although WC-Co cemented carbides contain a ferromagnetic binder phase, they usually have low magnetic permeability. It increases with the cobalt content, and the typical range of values is 2 to ~12 when the vacuum value is equal to 1.