Slip in single crystals of tungsten monocarbide has been observed around Vickers pyramid hardness indentations. The slip plane is {l100} at room temperature and the slip directions are postulated to be the <0001> and <1120>. The Vickers hardness value on a (0001) face is approximately twice the value determined for a (1100) face. This is attributed to the ease of motion of dislocations with <11200> Burgers vectors as opposed to the dislocations having <0001> Burgers vectors since the former can dissociate into <1123> partial dislocations. The occurrence of a {1100} slip plane is explained on the basis of the fact that a minimum number of only two covalent tungsten-carbon bonds need be broken for a unit of slip on this plane.
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Takahashi et al. (1965) studied this question.