SPARK PLASMA SINTERING ON TUNGSTEN FERROMANGANESE ALLOYS

Abstract

Tungsten heavy alloys 92%W-8%(FeMn) were prepared through spark plasma sintering (SPS) The effects of sintering temperature on the Thermal counductivity, density and mechanical properties of the alloys were investigated. The microstructural constituents and the phase evaluation were qualitatively measured using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) equipped with energy dispersive spectrometry (EDS) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). SEM results reveals that microstructure consist of ferromanganese (α) phase distributed in tungsten matrix. As the increase in sintering temperature there is refinement of the ferrromanganese phase in tungsten matrix.The result of these investigations indicated that alloy processed with 1200 C sintering temperature shows superior properties. Addition of nickel in tungsten alloy were also studied to increase the toughness of the matrix. With the addition of nickel there is reduction in hardness, increase in thermal conductivity. The 92%W-8% (FeMn) alloys consisted of the W phase and the α (FeMn) binding phase, and the average particle size of ~5 μm and α (FeMn) is ~3μm