Application of clad powders for the creation of high-density tungsten heavy alloys

Abstract

Heavy tungsten alloys are used in many industries due to their high specific gravity and are essential in the production of flywheels, counterweights, gyroscope rotors, gyrocompasses, ammunition, X-ray and radiation screens, etc.) However, when manufacturing parts from heavy alloys using powder metallurgy, difficulties arise due to the uneven density distribution over the volume of lightweight metals, which negatively affects the performance of the products. Therefore, the aim of this work is to study the effect of the chemical deposition of nickel on tungsten particles to ensure uniform distribution of the low-melting metal when creating high-density heavy tungsten alloys. A composite powder based on tungsten with a nickel layer of 2-3 microns thick was obtained. The study of the particle size distribution of the clad powder showed a bimodal particle size distribution, which indicates that not all tungsten powder particles have the same coating thickness. This is due to the fact that the uniformity of the coating deposition depends on the shape and morphology of the initial tungsten particles. The influence of tungsten powder cladding modes on the physical (shape, size, surface morphology, coating thickness), chemical (chemical composition, amount of nickel), and physical and technological properties of clad powders (fluidity, bulk density, density), depending on the concentration of the solution relative to the tungsten powder and on the average size of the tungsten powder, was investigated. The possibility of creating heavy alloys with a uniform distribution of nickel in the material structure, which provides high density and high physical and mechanical properties, is shown. The presented research can be useful in the development of heavy alloys for the military and machine-building industries.