Cracking in laser additively manufactured W : Initiation mechanism and a suppression approach by alloying

• Cracking represents the main challenge for exploiting tungsten in additive manufacturing. In this study, laser powder-bed-fusion technique was applied to additively manufacture tungsten. In the built bulks, the grain boundaries were found to be rich in nanoscale gas pores. On the basis of that, a nanopore segregation induced cracking initiation mechanism was proposed. In order to control cracks, W-6wt.%Ta alloy was produced and the cracking suppression mechanism was investigated. The W-6Ta alloy is characterized by a submicron intragranular cellular structure, which composed large amount of interlocked dislocations as revealed by transmission electron microscopy. Owing to the cellular structure, the nanopores were trapped inside grains, which can reduce the cracking possibility. Moreover, the W-Ta alloy possesses higher strength (by 17%) and higher energy dissipation rate (by 52%) than pure tungsten, which both are beneficial for crack reduction.

Subject headings

TEKNIK OCH TEKNOLOGIER  -- Materialteknik (hsv//swe)

ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY  -- Materials Engineering (hsv//eng)

NATURVETENSKAP  -- Kemi -- Materialkemi (hsv//swe)

NATURAL SCIENCES  -- Chemical Sciences -- Materials Chemistry (hsv//eng)

Keyword

Additive manufacturing

W

W-Ta alloy

Cracking mechanism

Cellular structure

Publication and Content Type

ref (subject category)

art (subject category)