On Crystallographic Texture of As-Drawn Doped-W Wires

Abstract

Industrially processed doped-tungsten wires in the as-drawn condition have essentially a <110>-fibre texture with attractive mechanical properties. The main objectives of the present work are to investigate (I) if any textural changes occur as the wire diameter decreases and (II) if such changes influence the mechanical behaviour of the wire. A wire of about ∅1.5mm is drawn to about ∅0.15mm following a standard industrial route and samples were collected from five intermediate drawing passes. Bulk texture measurements using X-radiations were then carried on the transverse sections of the wires and texture characteristics such as volume fraction of textural components and sharpness index were quantified with respect to the wire diameter. It was observed that the texture in the as-drawn wires remains chiefly the same <110>-fibre as the wire diameter decreases. However, the sharpness of texture reaches a maximum at a certain diameter and decreases with further decrease in the wire diameter. An explanation is offered based on the concept of deformation zone geometry. An attempt was also made to determine if texture weakening has any effect on the mechanical properties of the wire at room temperature.