Spark plasma sintering of tungsten-based WTaVCr refractory high entropy alloys for nuclear fusion applications

Yongchul Yoo; Xiang Zhang; Fei Wang; Xin Chen; Xing-Zhong Li; Michael Nastasi; Bai Cui

doi:10.1007/s12613-023-2711-9

Volume 31 Issue 1

Jan. 2024

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Article Navigation > International Journal of Minerals, Metallurgy and Materials > 2024 > 31(1): 146-154

Yongchul Yoo, Xiang Zhang, Fei Wang, Xin Chen, Xing-Zhong Li, Michael Nastasi, and Bai Cui, Spark plasma sintering of tungsten-based WTaVCr refractory high entropy alloys for nuclear fusion applications, Int. J. Miner. Metall. Mater., 31(2024), No. 1, pp. 146-154. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12613-023-2711-9

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Yongchul Yoo, Xiang Zhang, Fei Wang, Xin Chen, Xing-Zhong Li, Michael Nastasi, and Bai Cui, Spark plasma sintering of tungsten-based WTaVCr refractory high entropy alloys for nuclear fusion applications, Int. J. Miner. Metall. Mater., 31(2024), No. 1, pp. 146-154. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12613-023-2711-9

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Research Article

Spark plasma sintering of tungsten-based WTaVCr refractory high entropy alloys for nuclear fusion applications

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Corresponding author:
Bai Cui E-mail: bcui3@unl.edu
Received: 11 March 2023; Revised: 3 July 2023; Accepted: 13 July 2023; Available online: 15 July 2023

Abstract

Abstract

W-based WTaVCr refractory high entropy alloys (RHEA) may be novel and promising candidate materials for plasma facing components in the first wall and diverter in fusion reactors. This alloy has been developed by a powder metallurgy process combining mechanical alloying and spark plasma sintering (SPS). The SPSed samples contained two phases, in which the matrix is RHEA with a body-centered cubic structure, while the oxide phase was most likely Ta₂VO₆ through a combined analysis of X-ray diffraction (XRD), energy-dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), and selected area electron diffraction (SAED). The higher oxygen affinity of Ta and V may explain the preferential formation of their oxide phases based on thermodynamic calculations. Electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) revealed an average grain size of 6.2 μm. WTaVCr RHEA showed a peak compressive strength of 2997 MPa at room temperature and much higher micro- and nano-hardness than W and other W-based RHEAs in the literature. Their high Rockwell hardness can be retained to at least 1000°C.
- refractory high entropy alloy;
- plasma-facing material;
- fusion reactor;
- spark plasma sintering

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