The history of the technological progress of hardmetals

The impressive history of hardmetals starts with the search for a proper and cheaper material for drawing dies for the drawing of non-sag tungsten (NS-W) after the First World War. The OSRAM R&D group tried to reduce the brittleness of pure WC by adding nickel at first and soon thereafter cobalt, which was utterly successful. Hence, a project aimed to find the solution to a specific problem can unexpectedly lead to a much more important...