Microstructural Transitions during Powder Metallurgical Processing of Solute Stabilized Nanostructured Tungsten Alloys
Exploiting grain boundary engineering in the design of alloys for extreme environments provides a promising pathway for enhancing performance relative to coarse-grained counterparts. Due to its attractive properties as a plasma facing material for fusion devices, tungsten presents an opportunity to exploit this approach in addressing the significant materials challenges imposed by the fusion environment. Here, we employ a ternary alloy design approach for stabilizing W against recrystallization and grain growth while simultaneously enhancing its manufacturability through powder metallurgical processing. Mechanical alloying and grain refinement in W-10 at.% Ti-(10,20) at.% Cr alloys are accomplished through high-energy ball milling with transitions in the microstructure mapped as a function of milling time. We demonstrate the multi-modal nature of the resulting nanocrystalline grain structure and its stability up to 1300 °C with the coarser grain size population correlated to transitions in crystallographic texture that result from the preferred slip systems in BCC W. Field-assisted sintering is employed to consolidate the alloy powders into bulk samples, which, due to the deliberately designed compositional features, are shown to retain ultrafine grain structures despite the presence of minor carbides formed during sintering due to carbon impurities in the ball-milled powders.
- Research Organization:
- Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States); Brookhaven National Lab. (BNL), Upton, NY (United States). Center for Functional Nanomaterials (CFN)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE Office of Science (SC), Fusion Energy Sciences (FES); USDOE Office of Nuclear Energy (NE), Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Supply Chain. Fuel Cycle Research and Development Program
- Grant/Contract Number:
- SC0017899; AC05-00OR22725; SC0012704
- OSTI ID:
- 1840629
- Alternate ID(s):
- OSTI ID: 1885246
- Journal Information:
- Metals, Journal Name: Metals Vol. 12 Journal Issue: 1; ISSN 2075-4701
- Publisher:
- MDPI AGCopyright Statement
- Country of Publication:
- Switzerland
- Language:
- English
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