Tungsten-based heterogeneous multilayer structures via diffusion bonding

Recent work has shown that tungsten (W) and other refractory metals with body-centered cubic (bcc) structures exhibit certain novel behavior when their grain size, d, is refined into the ultrafine (UFG, 100 nm < d < 1000 nm) or nanocrystalline (NC, d < 100 nm) regime. For example, it has been shown that bcc refractory metals with such microstructures show decreased strain rate sensitivity besides their elevated strength and vanishing strain hardening response. Consequently, under both quasi-static and high-strain-rate loading, plastic instability in the form of shear banding becomes the dominant mode of plastic deformation. Such behavior is long sought-after in certain applications. However, due to the technology used to refine the grain size (primarily severe plastic deformation), the inability to scale the dimensions of the material may limit wider use and application of UFG/NC bcc refractory metals. In this work, the feasibility was demonstrated of production of large-scale W parts using a diffusion bonding method. The microstructure, preliminary mechanical properties, and issues and challenges associated with the fabrication procedures were examined and discussed. It is envisioned that diffusion bonding may serve as a promising technology for scaled-up fabrication of UFG bcc refractory metals for the targeted application.