The Effects of Sintering Temperature on the Densification of Mechanically Alloyed W-Brass Composites

Abstract

Prealloyed (PA) and premixed (PM) W-brass with the composition of 60 wt% W, 1 wt% Ni and 39 wt% brass was sintered at the temperature of 800˚C, 920˚C and 1000˚C each. As a result of difficulties in the densification of W-Cu and W-Cu alloys, mechanical alloying (MA) and activated sintering were combined. The powders were mechanically alloyed for 13 hours to produce nanosized W grains embedded in brass. The microstructure and properties of these composites with increase in sintering temperature has been studied. Both prealloyed and premixed composites sintered at 800˚C (solid state sintering) and 920˚C (sub-solidus state sintering) have lower sintered densities and hardness. The densification rate in the premixed composites was observed to be higher than that of the prealloyed composites. Their densification and properties increased with the increase in the sintering temperature.