Reactive sintering of porous tungsten for higher homogeneity

Abstract

One of the most important applications of tungsten is its use as a high current density cathode in the form of porous tungsten impregnated with electron emissive salts. Powder metallurgy is the usual processing route to make these parts since melting and casting of tungsten is very tedious due to its high melting point (3410±20°C). The overall porosity and porosity distribution are crucial parameters for the performance and lifetime of porous tungsten cathodes. Although there is an active debate over what constitutes the optimal porosity distribution, lack of homogeneity is observed in conventional parts. This may contribute to a shorter cathode and hence lamp lifetime. These parts are conventionally sintered at temperatures in excess of 2000°C. Furthermore, due to the high temperatures involved, the conventional sintering is very costly and energy consuming. This paper briefly looks into an alternative sintering process being developed for porous tungsten technology and its outcomes in terms of porosity distribution across the parts. As a result, the sintering temperature is dropped down to 1150°C and more homogeneous porous structures have been obtained. A characterisation method previously developed by the authors based on microhardness measurements is proved to be a good measure of the homogeneity of porous tungsten parts.     

Effect of plastic deformation on the physicomechanical properties of tungsten carbide-cobalt hard alloys

Summary A study was made of the effect of prior plastic deformation on the hardness, strength, coercive force, and electrical resistivity of tungsten carbide-cobalt hard alloys containing 10–25% cobalt. Plastic deformation decreases the hardness of the alloys. Up to a deformation of about 5–6%, all the alloys investigated showed a marked drop in hardness. Further deformation did not decrease the hardness of alloy VK25; for the alloys with lower cobalt contents, the hardness decrease was less pronounced.     

The properties of tungsten processed by chemically activated sintering

Two tungsten powders have been treated with small concentrations of sintering activators to provide for enhanced low temperature sintering. The experimental study focused on the determination of the processing effects on properties such as sintered density, grain size, hardness, and strength. Variables in the plan included tungsten particle size, type of activator, amount of activator, compaction pressure, and sintering temperature. The sintered density is found to have a dominant effect on strength and hardness. The various processing variables are analyzed in terms of their effects on density. At high sintered densities, grain growth acts to degrade the strength. Additionally, the nature of the sintering activator influences the fracture strength. In this study optimal strength occurred with a 0.7 μm tungsten powder treated with 0.29 wt pct Ni, sintered at 1200 °C for one hour. The resulting density was 18.21 g/cm³, with aR _A hardness of 69 and a transverse rupture strength of 460 MPa.     

Effect of sintering temperature and time on the physicomechanical properties of steel PK40N2M

Translated from Poroshkovaya Metallurgiya, No. 5(353), pp. 38–43, May, 1992.     

激光烧结钨基合金组织性能研究

采用激光烧结技术制备了钽、铼掺杂钨基合金,利用扫描电子显微镜、金相显微镜、X射线衍射仪和显微硬度计等设备表征了钨基合金试样的组织和性能。结果表明,激光功率及激光扫描速度是影响钨合金块体相对密度的重要因素,通过对参数的优化可获得致密的钨合金块体材料;通过粉体解吸脱氧预处理和惰性气体保护可以避免粉体的氧化;显微组织观察表明,在激光烧结过程中,试样内部发生了静态再结晶;在试样芯部形成了较粉体颗粒明显增大的等轴晶粒,在试样边缘形成了尺寸略大于粉体粒径的等轴晶粒;X射线衍射测试结果表明,加入的钽元素在钨基体中以固溶原子的形式存在;性能测试结果表明,随着钽加入量的增加,试样的密度下降,但显微硬度随之提高。     

烧结温度对Cu-C-SnO2多孔材料组织与性能的影响

采用SiO₂-B₂O₃-Al₂O₃助焊剂辅助常压烧结法制备了铜-石墨-氧化锡（Cu-C-SnO₂）复合多孔材料,对其显微组织和物理性能进行了测试,研究了烧结温度对Cu-C-SnO₂多孔材料组织和性能的影响。结果表明,复合多孔材料主要由金属Cu、石墨和氧化物陶瓷相构成;随着烧结温度升高,SnO₂逐渐减少,莫来石等矿化陶瓷相逐渐增多;当烧结温度从750℃升高到800℃时,Cu₂O增多,当烧结温度高于800℃时,Cu₂O随烧结温度的升高而减少;当烧结温度为950℃时,Cu相发生显著再结晶而晶粒粗大;材料的电阻率、渗油率和空气粘性渗透系数随烧结温度的变化呈现出相似的变化规律,都随烧结温度的增加而先减小后增大,在烧结温度850~900℃范围内达到最小值;烧结线收缩率和材料密度随烧结温度的变化呈现出相似的变化规律,都是随烧结温度的升高而增大,在烧结温度800℃附近存在一个临界值,在该临界值两侧,烧结线收缩率和材料密度随烧结温度变化的速率明显不同;在烧结温度800~850℃之间,材料里氏硬度存在一个突变点,在该突变点两侧,材料里氏硬度都随烧结温度的升高而升高。     

粗颗粒钨粉对90W-Ni-Fe钨合金烧结变形与组织性能的影响

在原材料粉末中添加20μm的粗颗粒钨粉,用粉末冶金法制备了圆柱状90W-Ni-Fe钨合金。通过测量钨合金烧结坯椭圆状横截面长短轴的尺寸,对烧结变形进行了定量分析;采用准静态拉伸试验对合金的力学性能进行了测试;通过光学金相、扫描电镜对合金组织形貌进行表征。结果表明:添加粗颗粒W粉能明显降低合金烧结变形,粗颗粒钨粉添加量占钨粉总量80%时,圆柱状钨合金投料可降低约20%,明显提高材料利用率;当粗颗粒W粉含量在70%~90%之间时,合金抗拉强度约950 MPa,延伸率约20%,与未添加粗颗粒钨粉的传统90W-Ni-Fe钨合金相比,其强度提高约30MPa,延伸率降低了28.5%,这与添加粗颗粒W粉的钨合金的穿晶断裂方式,以及合金界面结合强度低、黏结相分布不均匀等有关;添加粗颗粒钨粉的钨合金微观组织中的钨晶粒形状不太规则,存在粒径超大的钨晶粒。     

Interrelationship between the properties of powders,the conditions of pressing and sintering,and the structure of porous niobium

Conclusions With an increase in niobium powder particle size the pressability increases while the formability decreases. There is a linear relationship between the normalized radius of the pores in high-porosity niobium powder specimens and the normalized volume of the pores. This is an indication of geometric similarity of the disposition and form of the pores in specimens pressed from niobium powders with different degrees of dispersion.The product of the coefficient of side pressure and the coefficient of friction on the die wall is 0.053 ± 0.10. This means that with reasonable values of the coefficient of friction of dispersed niobium powder on the wall of the steel die is 0.14.Translated from Poroshkovaya Metallurgiya, No. 3(327), pp. 30–33, March, 1990.