Effects of TiC content on microstructure, mechanical properties, and thermal conductivity of W-TiC alloys fabricated by a wet-chemical method

Highlights: • W-(0–0.9) wt.%TiC alloys were successfully fabricated by wet-chemical method. • The TiC particles of the W-(0.1–0.5)TiC alloys were uniformly distributed with a high share in tungsten grain interiors. • W-0.5TiC alloy achieved the highest bending strength and flexural strain of 1065.72 MPa and 1.23%, respectively. • The thermal conductivities of the W-0.1TiC alloy achieved 152.1 W/(m K) at RT. - Abstract: W-(0–0.9)TiC (wt.%) alloys were prepared by a wet-chemical method and spark plasma sintering. The effects of TiC content on the microstructures, mechanical properties, and thermal conducting properties of the prepared W-TiC alloys were investigated. The results revealed that the average grain size of the W-(0–0.9)TiC alloys decreased, and their average TiC particle size increased with the increase of TiC content. The bending fracture strengths of the prepared samples increased significantly with increased TiC content in the range of 0–0.5%, which was attributed to the uniform distribution of TiC particles with a high proportion located in the tungsten grain interiors. The W-0.5TiC alloy exhibited the best mechanical properties with the highest relative density, bending strength, and flexural strain of 97.61%, 1065.72 MPa, and 1.23%, respectively. Moreover, the thermal conductivities of the W-(0.1–0.5)TiC alloys were slightly lower than those of pure tungsten at all testing temperatures. However, the mechanical properties and thermal conducting properties of the W-0.7TiC and W-0.9TiC alloys were significantly deteriorated due to the non-uniform aggregation of TiC particles at the tungsten grain boundaries.