Producing tungsten carbide–cobalt, essential due to its extreme hardness, efficiently using additive manufacturing

https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1115612

"high pressure/ sintering expensive, consumes excessive raw materials, results in suboptimal yields, overcome using hot-wire laser welding combining laser beam/ preheated filler wire... softens metals rather than fully melting them, for precise deposition... 2 methods: irradiate top of carbide rod previously prone to decomposition, (2) irradiate nickel alloy located between rod /base with strict temperature control to produce industrial-grade carbide... >1400 HV hardness without introducing defects using less material"