On the Structural and Chemical Homogeneity of Spark Plasma Sintered Tungsten

0509560 - ÚFP 2020 RIV CH eng J - Journal Article
Matějíček, Jiří - Vilémová, Monika - Veverka, Jakub - Kubásek, J. - Lukáč, František - Novák, P. - Preisler, D. - Stráský, J. - Weiss, Zdeněk
On the Structural and Chemical Homogeneity of Spark Plasma Sintered Tungsten.
Metals. Roč. 9, č. 8 (2019), č. článku 879. E-ISSN 2075-4701
R&D Projects: GA ČR(CZ) GA17-23154S
EU Projects: European Commission(XE) 633053 - EUROfusion
Institutional support: RVO:61389021
Keywords : carbon contamination * mgal2o4 spinel * powder * fabrication * reduction * oxides * alloy * tungsten * plasma-facing components * spark plasma sintering * homogeneity * carbon * processing factors
OECD category: Materials engineering
Impact factor: 2.117, year: 2019
Method of publishing: Open access
https://www.mdpi.com/2075-4701/9/8/879

Tungsten-based materials are the prime candidate plasma-facing materials for future fusion reactors, such as DEMO. Spark plasma sintering is a prospective fabrication technology with several advantageous features. The concurrent application of electric current, temperature and pressure enhances the sintering process, allowing for lower temperatures and shorter sintering times than traditional powder metallurgy processes. This in turn helps to avoid excessive grain growth and phase segregation in W-alloys. This study is focused on several factors that may influence the homogeneity of the sintered compacts-namely the diffusion of carbon from the graphite die, purity of the powder and sintering conditions. The following characteristics of spark plasma-sintered tungsten compacts were studied: composition (especially carbon and oxygen content), porosity, mechanical properties (hardness and fracture strength), and thermal diffusivity. The effects of the abovementioned processing factors were quantified, and local variations of selected properties were assessed.
Permanent Link: http://hdl.handle.net/11104/0300271