Dynamic Consolidation and Investigation of Nanostructural W-Cu / W-Y Cylindrical Billets

Abstract

The main purpose of presented work is to obtain W-Cu & W-Y cylindrical bulk nanostructured billets by explosive consolidation technology (ECT) in hot condition, with low porosity near to theoretical densities and improved physical / mechanical properties. Nanocomposites were subjected to densification into cylindrical steel tube containers using hot explosive consolidation (HEC) technology to fabricate high dense cylindrical billets.The first stage: Preliminary explosive densification of the precursor powder blend is carried out at room temperature with a loading intensity up to 10GPa to increase the initial density and to activate the particle surfaces in the blend.The second stage investigation were carried out for the same already predensified billets, but consolidation were conducted in hot conditions, after heating of samples in between 940-11000C, the intensity of loading was equal to 10GPa.Consolidated different type of W-Cu composition containing 10-40% of nanoscale W, during investigation showed that the combination of high temperatures (above 940°C) and two-stage shock wave compression was beneficial to the consolidation of the incompatible pair W-Cu composites, resulting in high densities, good integrity and good electronic properties. The structure and property of the samples obtained, depended on the sizes of tungsten particles. It was established that in comparison with W-Cu composites with coarse tungsten the application of nanoscale W precursors and depending of content of W gives different result.Tungsten is a prime material candidate for the first wall of a future fusion reactor. In this study, the microstructure and microhardness of tungsten-yttrium (W-Y) composites were investigated as a function of Y doping content (0.5÷2 wt. %). It was found that the crystallite sizes and the powder particle sizes were increased as a result of the increase of Y content. Nearly fully dense materials were obtained for W-Y alloys when the Y content was higher than 0.5 wt. %. Investigation revealed that the Y rich phases were complex (W-Y) oxides formed during the sintering process. Also very interesting to use doping chromium with yttrium-containing alloys. e.g. (W - 10÷12 Cr -0.5÷2 Y) wt. %. The extent up to which yttrium acts as an active element improving the adherence and stability of the protective Cr 2 O 3 layer formed during oxidation is assessed.The structure and characteristics of the obtained samples depends on the phase content, distribution of phases and processing parameters during explosive synthesis and consolidation. Cu – (10-30%) W powder mixtures were formed into cylindrical rods using a hot shock wave consolidation (HSWC) process. Different type of Cu - W precursor composition containing 10, 20 and 30% of nanoscale W were consolidated near theoretical density under 900°C; The loading intensity was under 10 GPa. The investigation showed that the combination of high temperatures (above 800°C) and two stage shock wave compression was beneficial to the consolidation of the W-Cu & W-Y composites, resulting in high densities, good integrity and good electronic properties.