Effect of reinforcement phase on the mechanical property of tungsten nanocomposite synthesized by spark plasma sintering

Nanostructured tungsten composites reinforced by MG and crystalline phases were fabricated using mechanical milling and consolidation by SPS to obtained bulk nanostructured composite materials with high strength and enhanced compressive plasticity. The mechanical behavior of the nanostructured W composite is similar to pure tungsten, however, in contrast to monolithic pure tungsten, some macroscopic compressive plasticity accompanies the enhanced maximum strength up to 2.4 GPa by introducing reinforcement. We have found that the mechanical properties of the composites strongly depend on the uniformity of the nano-grained tungsten matrix and reinforcement phase distribution. The mechanical behavior of the nanostructured W composites is similar to that of typical monolithic tungsten. However, the deformation behavior of W composites mainly depends on the layered structure between the nano-grained tungsten matrix and reinforcement rather than the phase(s) of the reinforcing constituent.