Effect of alloying addition and microstructural parameters on mechanical properties of 93% tungsten heavy alloys

Abstract

Liquid phase sintering, heat treatment and swaging studies on three tungsten heavy alloys, 93W–4.9Ni2.1Fe (wt%), 93W–4.2Ni–1.2Fe–1.6Co (wt%) and 93W–4.9Ni–1.9Fe–0.2Re (wt%) were carried out in detail with respect to microstructure, tensile and impact properties. All the alloys were sintered and swaged to 40% deformation. The results indicate that Re addition reduces the grain size of the alloy compared to WNi–Fe and W-Ni-Fe-Co alloys. W–Ni–Fe–Re alloy shows superior tensile properties in heat treated condition as compared to W–Ni–Fe and W–Ni–Fe–Co alloys. SEM study of fractured specimens clearly indicates that the failure in case of W–Ni–Fe–Re was due to transgranular cleavage of tungsten grains and W–W de-cohesion. W–Ni–Fe and W–Ni–Fe–Co alloys also failed by mixed mode failure. However, in these cases, ductile dimples corresponding the failure of the matrix phase was rarely seen. Thermomechanical processing resulted in significant changes in mechanical properties. While W–Ni–Fe–Re alloy showed the highest tensile strength (1380 MPa), W–Ni–Fe–Co exhibited the highest elongation (12%) to failure. A detailed analysis involving microstructure, mechanical properties and failure behavior was undertaken in order to understand the property trends.