Abstract: The invention concerns the field of hardmetal materials and relates to hardmetals such as those which can, for example, be used as cutting material for tools. The object of the present invention is to specify hardmetals which include a novel concept for the structural composition of the hardmetals. The object is attained with hardmetals which are at least made up of hard phases in particle form and metal binder arranged therebetween, wherein a high-entropy hard phase (HEH) is composed of at least four metals (Me) of the 4th and/or 5th and/or 6th subgroup of the PTE in the form of a solid solution of carbides, nitrides, carbonitrides, oxycarbides, and/or oxycarbonitrides of the metals, wherein the respective amounts of the metals in the HEH are essentially equal.

Abstract: The invention relates to a nanoscale or ultrafine hard metal, comprising tungsten carbide, an additional metal carbide phase that has a cubic crystal structure, and a binder metal phase. The invention further relates to a method for producing said hard metal and to the use of said hard metal to produce tools and wearing parts. The invention further relates to a component that has been produced from the described hard metal.

Abstract: The invention relates to a method for producing a carbide with a toughness-increasing structure, comprising the following steps: providing a hard material powder, wherein the average BET particle size of the hard material powder is less than 1.0 mm; mixing the hard material powder with a binder powder; shaping the mixture made of hard material powder and binder powder to form a green body; and sintering the green body. The invention also relates to a carbide with a toughness-increasing structure comprising a phase made of hard material particles and a phase made of binder metal heterogeneously distributed in the carbide, which is present in the form of binder islands, wherein the carbide with a toughness-increasing structure produced after the sintering has a phase made of hard material particles with an average particle size in the region between 1 nm and 1000 nm, and the binder islands have an average size of 0.1 ?m to 10.0 ?m and an average distance between the binder islands of 1.0 ?m to 7.0 ?m.

Abstract: The invention is concerned with the fields of cemented carbide materials and ceramic and/or powder-metallurgical process engineering and relates to a sintered cemented carbide granulate such as that which can, for example, be used for the production of wear parts or tools with cemented carbides, and to its use. The object of the present invention is to specify a cemented carbide granulate with which cemented carbide green bodies and cemented carbide sintered bodies that exhibit a high green density and high green strength can be produced, and to specify the use thereof. The object is attained with a sintered cemented carbide granulate which, for the majority of granules, has an inhomogeneous distribution of hard material and metallic binder in the individual granule, wherein the concentration of the metallic binder at the surface of the individual granule is, in total, at least 25% greater than in the interior of the granule.

Abstract: The invention relates to a method for producing a carbide with a toughness-increasing structure, comprising the following steps: providing a hard material powder, wherein the average BET particle size of the hard material powder is less than 1.0 mm; mixing the hard material powder with a binder powder; shaping the mixture made of hard material powder and binder powder to form a green body; and sintering the green body. The invention also relates to a carbide with a toughness-increasing structure comprising a phase made of hard material particles and a phase made of binder metal heterogeneously distributed in the carbide, which is present in the form of binder islands, wherein the carbide with a toughness-increasing structure produced after the sintering has a phase made of hard material particles with an average particle size in the region between 1 nm and 1000 nm, and the binder islands have an average size of 0.1 ?m to 10.0 ?m and an average distance between the binder islands of 1.0 ?m to 7.0 ?m.