The investigation of Y doping content effect on the microstructure and microhardness of tungsten materials

In this study, the microstructure and microhardness of tungsten–yttrium (W–Y) composites were investigated as a function of Y doping content (0.25–3 wt%). It was found that the crystallite sizes and the powder particle sizes were increased as a result of the increase of Y content. Nearly fully dense materials were obtained for W–Y alloys when the Y content was higher than 0.5 wt%. The EDS analysis revealed that the Y rich phases were complex (W–Y) oxides formed during the sintering process. The Y doping content showed obvious influence on the refinement of tungsten grains during sintering. W–1.5Y composite showed the finest microstructure with an average grain size of 0.32 μm, and thus achieved the highest Vickers microhardness with the value of 770 HV0.2.