In situ oxide dispersion strengthened tungsten alloys with high compressive strength and high strain-to-failure

In this work a novel process methodology to concurrently improve the compressive strength (2078 MPa at a strain rate of 5 × 10−4 s−1) and strain-to-failure (over 40%) of bulk tungsten materials has been described. The process involves the in situ formation of intragranular tungsten oxide nanoparticles, facilitated by the application of a pressure of 1 GPa at a low sintering temperature of 1200 °C during spark plasma sintering (SPS). The results show that the application of a high pressure of 1 GPa during SPS significantly accelerates the densification process. Concurrently, the second phase oxide nanoparticles with an average grain size of 108 nm, which are distributed within the interiors of the W grains, simultaneously provide strengthening and plasticity by inhibiting grain growth, and generating, blocking, and storing dislocations.