Combination of mechanical alloying and two-stage sintering of a 93W–5.6Ni–1.4Fe tungsten heavy alloy

The microstructural evolution and mechanical properties of a mechanically alloyed and two-stage sintered tungsten heavy alloy were investigated. Elemental powders of tungsten, nickel and iron of a composition corresponding to 93W–5.6Ni–1.4Fe were mechanically alloyed in a tumbler ball mill for 72 h. Mechanically alloyed powders were solid-state sintered at 1300°C for 1 hr in a hydrogen atmosphere followed by secondary sintering at 1445–1485°C for a sintering time ranging from 4 to 90 min. Solid-state sintered tungsten heavy alloys exhibited full densification (above 99% in relative density) due to the enhanced sintering resulting from mechanical alloying. Secondary sintering with a rapid heating rate changed the microstructures of the solid-state sintered alloy with contiguous tungsten phases into a dispersion alloy with spherical tungsten particles embedded in the W–Ni–Fe matrix, maintaining fine tungsten particle due to the combination of a mechanical alloying and a short sintering time. The two-stage sintered tungsten heavy alloy from mechanically alloyed powders showed finer tungsten particle (about 6 μm in diameter) than in conventional liquid-phase sintered tungsten heavy alloys. The mechanical properties of a tungsten heavy alloy were found to be dependent on the microstructural parameters such as tungsten particle size, matrix volume fraction and tungsten/tungsten contiguity which are controllable through the two-stage sintering process.