Synergetic effect of Re alloying and SiC addition on strength and toughness of tungsten

Abstract In this study, Re alloying and self-generated hard phase enhancement were used to improve the strength and toughness of W. The arc-melting W-based composite with 10 wt% Re and 1 wt% SiC addition is composed of toughening W-Re matrix and ceramic particles (W 2 C and W 5 Si 3 ). This composite having high strain capacity (37.1%) at room temperature (more than 5 times of W), exhibits the excellent hardness (5.04 GPa), yield strength (0.92 GPa) and fracture strength (1.78 GPa) due to the synergetic mechanism, grain refinement, and good interfaces bonding state. The synergetic mechanism of Re and SiC addition on strength and toughness was proposed.