Elaboration and thermomechanical characterization of W/Cu functionally graded materials produced by Spark Plasma Sintering for plasma facing components

•Different W-Cu powders were sintered by Spark Plasma Sintering.•The relative density increase with the temperature and Cu concentration.•Thermal conductivity of W-Cu samples has been measured in function of density.•Assembly of a three-layer W-Cu between a W block and a CuCrZr block was realized.•40min is the minimum time to complete bonding between W and W80Cu20. The assembly of W block with a CuCrZr block has been produced by adding compliant W-Cu layers. Firstly, three W-Cu powders (W80Cu20, W60Cu40 and W40Cu60) were sintered by spark plasma sintering (SPS) to investigate the influences of sintering temperature and pressure on relative density and microstructure. The experimental results indicated that the relative density increases with temperature and Cu concentration, achieving a value of 94.1% for the W40Cu60 sample sintered at 1000°C and a value of 83.1% for the W80Cu20 sample sintered at the same temperature. Then, a three-layer W-Cu assembly between a W block and a CuCrZr block was fabricated using similar sintering conditions to the W-Cu powders. The sintering temperature was limited at 1000°C due to the CuCrZr melting temperature (1083°C). The experimental results indicated that loading time, when the right sintering temperature and pressure are applied, is the most important parameter.