Fracture toughness investigations of tungsten alloys and SPD tungsten alloys

Three different tungsten alloys (pure W, a lanthanum-oxide dispersion strengthened W-alloy – WL10 and a potassium doped tungsten alloy – WVM) in different fabrication conditions (sintered and rolled rods) were tested to characterize their fracture behaviour at different temperatures (from −196 to 800 °C). Additionally severe plastic deformed tungsten alloys were produced. It is shown that an ultra fine grained microstructure with a diameter of about 300 nm is able to decrease the brittleness at room temperature significantly. Such W-alloys are very attractive candidate materials for fusion applications.