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Gradient nanostructured tungsten and the thermal shock response

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Abstract

In fusion reactor or spallation neutron source environment, damage of tungsten components begins at the surface. To enhance the surface toughness, strength, and hardness of tungsten, a nano-to-microscale lamellar gradient surface layer (thickness up to ~ 50 μm) was produced on as-rolled pure tungsten using a dry-sliding surface treatment. The dry-sliding temperature and time were established by observing the grain-size evolution from room temperature to 750 ℃ and the coefficient of friction on the surface layer after sliding from 10 to 50 min. The grains changed into a slender fibrous structure at 250 °C, which is higher than the ductile–brittle transition temperature but lower than the dynamic recrystallization temperature (750 °C). The coefficient of friction of the surface layer decreased with sliding time and stabilized at approximately 50 min, indicating near-saturation of the surface refinement. After repetitive thermal loads of 10, 20, and 30 MW·m−2 on the gradient modified layer, it exhibited mainly recrystallization and grain growth. The proportion of low-angle grain boundaries (< 10°) reached 50.6, 42.2, and 17.3%, respectively, and the hardness decreased to 602, 582, and 488HV. A heat load of 30 MW·m−2 was the threshold for the fast grain growth. Compared with unmodified tungsten, the recrystallization and grain growth are relatively slow. Besides, the gradient layer could suppress the formation of pits and protrusions in the as-rolled tungsten sample.

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Data availability

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

The authors want to appreciate Doctor Z. M. **e at Institute of Solid State Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, for his assistance in materials fabrication and characterization.

Funding

The National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant no. 51601189), Panzhihua Guided Science and Technology Program (2019ZD-G-15) and the cultivation project of Panzhihua University (2020ZD003) supported this work.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Vanadium and Titanium Resource Comprehensive Utilization Key Laboratory of Sichuan Province, Panzhihua University, Panzhihua, 617000, China

    Yan Jiang, ** Huang, Zhi-Qiang Jiang, **g Hou, Zhong Xu, En-Hui Wu & Jun Li

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  1. Yan Jiang
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  3. Zhi-Qiang Jiang
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  4. **g Hou
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Contributions

Data integration, PH and JH; Formal analysis: ZX, JL and EHW; Methodology and Writing: YJ and ZQJ; Funding acquisition: YJ. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Yan Jiang or Zhi-Qiang Jiang.

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Jiang, Y., Huang, P., Jiang, ZQ. et al. Gradient nanostructured tungsten and the thermal shock response. Tungsten 5, 548–557 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s42864-023-00211-7

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