Abstract
Tungsten carbides are widely used as cutting, drilling and machining tools, due to their excellent mechanical properties, such as high hardness and strength, good fracture toughness and great wear resistance over a wide range of temperatures. In this study, not only Co is used as the main binder, Fe-Co-Ni multi-element alloy is also considered as a new binder because Co has several disadvantages, including its high cost, low corrosion resistance and environmental toxicity. Selective laser sintering(SLS) is a rapid prototyping process with flexibility to produce complex 3D objects. The recent research presents preliminary results on the microstructure, hardness, fracture toughness and abrasive wear resistance of the SLS specimens. This study aims to optimize the above mechanical properties through utilizing different powder size, binder contents and SLS parameters.