Effect of Secondary Reduction of Tungsten Powder on the Properties of W-Ni-Fe Alloy Fabricated by Spark Plasma Sintering

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

Department of Materials Engineering, Malek Ashtar University of Technology, Isfahan, Iran

Abstract

Introduction and Objective: The aim of this research is to investigate the effect of secondary tungsten powder reduction on the physical and mechanical properties of tungsten heavy alloys (WHAs) consolidated by the spark plasma sintering (SPS) method.
Materials and Methods: Commercial tungsten powder was reduced at 900 °C for one hour in a hydrogen atmosphere. The type of tungsten oxide was investigated using SEM, EDS, Raman spectroscopy, and XRD analysis. The reduced tungsten powders were pre-sintered in a hydrogen atmosphere at 1150 °C for one hour and finally sintered at 1400 °C using the SPS method (30 MPa, 15 min).
Results: The oxygen level of the commercial powder was successfully reduced from 3000 ppm to 770 ppm. SEM and EDS results revealed a uniform microstructure with minimal porosity and oxide dispersion. The hardness and compressive strength were measured to be 340 Vickers and 1611 MPa, respectively.
Conclusion: This study confirms that secondary hydrogen reduction of commercial tungsten powder effectively decreases oxygen content and leads to a more homogeneous microstructure with reduced porosity and oxide dispersion. As a result, the spark plasma sintered WHAs exhibited improved hardness and compressive strength.

Keywords

Main Subjects

References

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Journal of Advanced Materials in Engineering
Volume 45, Issue 2
2026
Pages 69-80

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