Preparation and characteristics of W–1 wt.% TiC alloy via a novel chemical method and spark plasma sintering

• W/TiC nanoparticles were prepared by a novel chemical method.
• Doped TiC nanoparticles were detected at the grain interior and grain boundary.
• The W/TiC alloy possesses high thermal stability at high temperature.

A chemical method was used to synthesize W/TiC composite powder. The obtained powder can achieve near full densification (relative density of 99.0%) after sintering by spark plasma technology at 1800 °C for 3 min. Field-emission scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron micrographs showed that doped TiC nano-particles existed at the grain interior and grain boundary. Transgranular and intergranular fractures can be observed on the surface of the sintered sample. The thermal conductivity of the sintered specimen was 122.89 W/mK at room temperature and has high thermal stability at high temperature. The specimen was uniformly organized on the basis of its microhardness after heat-treated at 1200 °C and 1300 °C.

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