Recrystallization behavior after annealing and thermal shock tests of W-K-TiC alloy

W-K-TiC alloys with different titanium carbide concentration (0.05, 0.1, 0.25, 1) wt.% were fabricated through spark plasma sintering (SPS) method. Single shot thermal shock tests with a length of 5 ms and 100 shots thermal shock tests with a length of 1 ms were carried out. The microstructure and Vickers micro-hardness of each sample were investigated. It is revealed that the surface of the samples began to recrystallize after thermal shock tests, and the samples with 5 ms for single shot had more serious recrystallization than the samples with 1 ms for 100 shots because of its higher surface temperature after thermal shock tests. The samples were annealed at 1400 °C, 1600 °C, 1800 °C, respectively. It is shown that the addition of TiC particles could slow down recrystallization of W-K-TiC alloy, and its recrystallization temperature can reach to between 1400 °C and 1600 °C.