A study on preparation of Mo-30W alloy by aluminothermic co-reduction of mixed oxides

In the present investigation, an alternate route for preparing Mo-30W alloy has been studied with the aim to surmount limitations of conventionally followed techniques. The process consists of aluminothermic co-reduction of mixed oxides of molybdenum and tungsten followed by remelting. The co-reduction process deals with cheap oxide materials and assures compositional homogeneity during the reduction stage. No easy availability of the essentially needed oxide intermediates WO2 and MoO2, compelled hydrogen reduction of the respective tri-oxides and is briefly discussed. The alloy button was further characterized by chemical analysis, optical microscopy and hardness testing. A pack cementation technique has been used to form uniformly adherent Al-Si coating on Mo-30W alloy in order to enhance high temperature oxidation resistance performance. The coating has been characterized using optical microscopy, hardness tester and EPMA.