Effects of temperature and strain rate on the tensile properties of potassium-doped tungsten

Tensile tests were performed on pure and K-doped tungsten at temperatures from 25 to 700 °C and strain rates between 10−5 and 10−1 s−1 in vacuum. The yield strength of both materials increased with increasing strain rate and decreasing temperature. The amount of change in the yield strength decreased with increasing temperature. The determination of activation volumes for plastic deformation highlighted that the rate-controlling process of the deformation behavior at lower temperatures was the same for both materials, namely, kink-pair formation on screw dislocations, and the process was not affected by potassium addition. The fracture strain of both materials increased with increasing strain rate and decreasing temperature, in the temperature range where the materials showed measurable ductility. K-doped W showed higher yield strength and a lower ductile-to-brittle transition temperature than pure W. No negative effect of K addition on strain rate- and temperature-induced changes in tensile properties was found. The analysis also highlighted the effectiveness of K addition, and of the grain refinement induced by it, for improving the mechanical properties of tungsten.