Suppression of Interfacial Segregation and Control of Microstructure for Improvement of Mechanical Properties of W-Ni-Fe Heavy Alloy
In mechanical testing of W-Ni-Pe heavy alloys, the cracks nucleate at W/W interface and propagate through W/ Imatrix interface or through matrix phase together with the cleavage of W grains. The mechanical properties can therefore be improved by control of the interfacial strength and area. In this presentation, some experimental result and techniques on this subject will be reviewed and discussed. The hydrogen embrittlement caused by the hydrogen segregation at interfaces during sintering in an hydrogen atmosphere can be removed by an heat-treattnent in vacuum or in an inert atmosphere. The heat-treatment condition can be estimated by using a diffusion equation for a cylindrical shape. The mechanical properties, in particular the impact property, are degraded by the segregation of non-metallic impurities, such as Sand P. The degradation can be prevented by adding a fourth element, such as La or Ca, active with the non-metallic impurities. The cyclic heat-treatment at usual heat-treattnent tempemture causes the penetration of matrix between W/W grain boundaries and results in remarkable increase in impact energy. This is due to an increase in the area of ductile failure during the impact test. The instability of W/matrix interface casued by addition of Mo or Re can be controlled by using W powders of different size. The increase in the interfacial area in found to be related to the presence of non-equilibrium pure W gmins among W(Mo or Re) solid solution gmins.