Effect of High-Energy-Rate Forging on Microstructure and Properties of W-TaC Alloys

The effects of the addition of TaC and hot deformation on the properties of tungsten have been studied. The tungsten and tantalum carbide (W-TaC) alloy was prepared by hot pressing followed by the high-energy-rate forging (HERF) process. The density and Vickers hardness of W-TaC alloy were tested. The microstructure of the composite was characterized by metallographic microscope, scanning electron microscopy, and electron backscattering diffraction (EBSD) imaging. The transient thermal shock resistance of forged W-TaC alloy was also investigated by applying 100 pulses edge-localized mode-like loads in an electron beam facility. The results show that the HERF processing can improve the density and hardness of W-TaC alloy. Preferred orientations of W grains and the subgrain boundaries were observed from the EBSD images. The crack threshold of the developed W-TaC alloys was located between 0.22 and 0.33 GW/m
²
at room temperature. When the base temperature increased to 100 °C, no cracks can be observed on the loaded surface at absorbed power density 1 GW/m
²
.