Fused WC does not have a precise meaning. Sintered WC does have a precise meaning-- sintering is a process in which particles bond together when heated to a sufficiently high temperature. There are two types of sintering processes used for producing cemented carbides: Hydrogen sintering and Vacuum sintering. Perhaps the description of fused WC is supposed to mean one of these processing options. Hot Isostatic Pressing is also frequently used in the production of cemented carbides. Notice that the word "fused" does not appear in any of the standard technical descriptions.
In the oilfield, WC is used as described in linked article; it, for hardfacing operations. Fused (or cast-crushed) WC is much harder and, therefore more wear resistant than the sintered pelets. On the other hand, the sintered pelets have a rounded shape (as oppoesd to the cast-crushed), so the sintered pelets are often specified for applications where the drill string has to run through cased portions of the hole.
There is “binderless” carbide sold as Cerbide and under other names. It is extremely low binder material. It is excellent for wear applications such as nozzles but has very low impact strength.
Typically new carbide grains are rough and sharp while reclaimed grains are closer to smooth and round due to the processing during reclamation of the materials.
Also it is the same picture for all three mesh sizes of fused carbide which is not a big deal but somehow bothers me a bit.
In general it is an industry where the language tends to be slightly vague which is typical of a relatively new industry.
