The synthesis and characteristics of W-Ni-Fe nanocomposite powder by hydrogen reduction of ball milled W-Ni-Fe oxide mixture were investigated. The ball milled oxide mixture was prepared by high energy attrition milling of W blue powder, NiO and for 1 h. The structure of the oxide mixture was characteristic of nano porous agglomerate composite powder consisting of nanoscale particles and pores which act as effective removal path of water vapor during hydrogen reduction process. The reduction experiment showed that the reduction reaction starts from NiO, followed by and finally W oxide. It was also found that during the reduction process rapid alloying of Ni-Fe yielded the formation of -Ni-Fe. After reduction at 80 for 1 h, the nano-composite powder of W-4.57Ni-2.34Fe comprising W and -Ni-Fe phases was produced, of which grain size was35nm for W and 87 nm for -Ni-Fe, respectively. Sinterability of the W heavy alloy nanopowder showing full density and sound microstructure under the condition of 147/20 min is thought to be suitable for raw material for powder injection molding of tungsten heavy alloy.

The property and performance of the nanocomposites have been known to strongly depend on the structural feature of Ni nanodispersoids which affects considerably the structure of matrix. Such nanodispersoids undergo structural evolution in the process of consolidation. Thus, it is very important to understand the microstructural development of Ni nanodispersoids depending on the structure change of the matrix by consolidation. The present investigation has focused on the growth mechanism of Ni nanodispersoids in the initial stage of sintering. powder mixtures were prepared by wet ball milling and hydrogen reduction of and Ni oxide powders. Microstructural development and the growth mechanism of Ni dispersion during isothermal sintering were investigated depending on the porosity and structure of powder compacts. The growth mechanism of Ni was discussed based upon the reported kinetic mechanisms. It is found that the growth mechanism is closely related to the structural change of the compacts that affect material transport for coarsening. The result revealed that with decreasing porosity by consolidation the growth mechanism of Ni nanoparticles is changed from the migration-coalescence process to the interparticle transport mechanism.

Mechanical properties of oxide based materials could be improved by nanocomposite processing. To investigate optimum route for fabrication of nanocomposite enabling mass production, high energy ball milling and Pulse Electric Current Sintering (PECS) were adopted. By high energy ball milling, the -based composite powder with dispersed Cu grains below 20 nm in diameter was successfully synthesized. The PECS method as a new process for powder densification has merits of improved sinterability and short sintering time at lower temperature than conventional sintering process. The relative densities of the -5vol%Cu composites sintered at and with holding temperature of were 95.4% and 95.7% respectively. Microstructures revealed that the composite consisted of the homogeneous and very fine grains of and Cu with diameters less than 40 nm and 20 nm respectively The composite exhibited enhanced toughness compared with monolithic . The influence of the Cu content upon fracture toughness was discussed in terms of microstructural characteristics.

The initial sintering behaviour of the powder injection molded (PIMed) W-l5wt%Cu nanocomposite powder was investigated. The W-Cu nanocomposite powder was produced by the mechanochemical process consisting of high energy ball-milling and hydrogen reduction of W blue powder-CuO mixture. Solid state sintering of the powder compacts was conducted at for 2~10 hours in hydrogen at mosphere. The sintering behaviour was examined and discussed in terms of microstructural developments such as W-Cu aggregate formation, pore size distribution and W grain growth. The volume shrinkage of PIM specimen was slightly larger than that of PM(conventional PM specimen), being due to fast local densification in the PIM. Remarkable decrease of carbon and oxygen in the PIM enhanced local densification in the early stage of solid state sintering process with eliminating very fine pores less than 10 nm. In addition, such local densiflcation in the PIM is presumably responsible for mitigating of W-grain growth in the initial stage.

The synthesis of W-l5wt%Cu nanocomposite powder by hydrogen reduction of ball milled W-Cu oxide mixture was investigated in terms of powder characteristics such as particle size, mixing homogeneity and micropore structure. It is found that the micropores in the ball milled oxide (2-50 nm in size) act as an effective removal path of water vapor, followed by the formation of dry atmosphere at reaction zone. Such thermodynamic condition enhances the nucleation of W phase but suppresses the growth process, being in favor of the formation of W nanoparticles (about 21 nm in size). In addition, the superior mixing homogeneity of starting oxide mixture turned out to Play a significant role for forming extraordinary chemical homogeneity of W-l5wt%Cu nanocomposite powder.

Electrical contact property of the W-20wt%Cu contact materials manufactured by liquid phase sintering of nanocomposite W-Cu powders was investigated and discussed in terms of microstructural development during performance test. Nanocomposite powders were prepared by hydrogen reduction of ball milled W-Cu oxide mixture. They underwent complete densification and microstructural homogenization during liquid phase sintering. As a consequence, the W-Cu contacts produced from nanocomposite powders showed superior contact property of lower arc erosion and stable contact resistance. This might be mostly due to the fact that the arc erosion by evaporation of Cu liquid droplets and surface cracking remarkably became weakened. It is concluded that the improvement of anti-arc erosion of the composite specimen is basically attributed to microstructural homogeneity.