Mechanical properties of as-fabricated and 2300 °C annealed tungsten wire tested up to 600 °C

Recent efforts dedicated to the mitigation of tungsten brittleness have demonstrated that tungsten fiber-reinforced composites acquire pseudo ductility even at room temperature. Crack extension and fracture process is basically defined by the strength of tungsten fibers. Here, we move forward and report the results of mechanical and microstructural investigation of different grades of W wire with a diameter of 150 μm at elevated temperature up to 600 °C. The results demonstrated that potassium doping to the wire in the as-fabricated state does not principally change the mechanical response, and the fracture occurs by grain elongation and delamination. Both fracture stress and fracture strain decrease with increasing test temperature. Contrary to the as-fabricated wire, the potassium-doped wire annealed at 2300 °C exhibits much lower fracture stress. The fracture mechanism also differs, namely: cleavage below 300 °C and ductile necking above. The change in the fracture mechanism is accompanied with a significant increase of the elongation to fracture being ~ 5% around 300 °C.