A study of silicon carbide reinforced W-Ni-Cu based heavy alloys sintered with different heating modes

The influence of silicon carbide (SiC) addition to W-Ni-Cu-based heavy alloys has been investigated in the present study. The powders of W-Ni-Cu with varying percentages of SiC were blended and sintered using conventional and Spark Plasma Sintering (SPS) techniques. The sintered samples were characterized to determine the density, microstructure, and mechanical properties. The alloy (W-7Ni-3Cu-0.5SiC) exhibits high ultimate tensile strength 430 MPa for conventional sintering and 831 MPa for spark plasma sintering, relative sintered density 71.84% and 88.25% of conventional sintered and spark plasma sintering, respectively. After the tensile test, the fracture surfaces show a mixed-mode fracture consisting of brittle W/W intergranular and ductile mode of fracture in the matrix.