Effect of molybdenum doping on the microstructure, micro-hardness and thermal shock behavior of WKMoTiY alloy

WKMoTiY powder were mechanically alloyed (MA) and then consolidated through spark plasma sintering (SPS). Four different concentrations of molybdenum, i.e., (0, 2, 5, 10) wt%, were applied to investigate the behavior of the alloys. The microstructure, Vickers micro-hardness and thermal shock behavior were analyzed. It is found that the molybdenum doping can mechanically alloy with tungsten and occupy tungsten lattice, which results in a correspondingly decrease of Vickers micro-hardness and thermal conductivity at the room temperature. Among the molybdenum doped samples, WK-2wt% MoTiY alloy displays highly enhanced resistance against thermal shock. It is suggested that appropriate molybdenum doping in WKMoTiY alloy is beneficial in consolidating and improving its thermal shock resistance.