Several finite element models of the morphology of WC-10 wt.% Co were employed to reproduce the build-up of thermal residual stresses as well as the phase specific strain during loading-unloading in compression. The different models differ only in their geometry of the interpenetrating skeletons of WC and Co. They all respect the given volume proportion of each phase. Thermoelasticity is considered for the brittle WC, while also plasticity is included to model the Co binder phase. We compare the predictions of our FEM models with phase specific strain measurements performed by in-situ neutron diffraction and discuss the model validation. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.