JMEPEG (2019) 28:4801–4810 ÓASM International

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Effect of Y2O3 Addition on the Microstructure, Wear

Resistance, and Corrosion Behavior of W-4.9Ni-2.1Fe
Heavy Alloy
Xuehui Zhang, Shengjian Zhu, Biao Zhang, Tahir Ahmad, Chunming Wang, Liangliang Zhou, Tongxiang Liang, and Bin Yang

(Submitted December 17, 2018; in revised form July 5, 2019; published online August 14, 2019)

Binding and particle phases are the two important parameters influencing materials properties. In this
study, a series of novel W-4.9Ni-2.1Fe-xY2O3 (in weight%) alloys with different Y2O3 contents are prepared
by secondary ball milling and spark plasma sintering (SPS) techniques to obtain uniformly distributed c-
(Ni, Fe) binding phases and finer grains. The microstructure, mechanical, wear resistance, and corrosion
behavior of the sintered bodies with different Y2O3 were obtained by x-ray diffraction, scanning electron
microscopy, Rockwell hardness tester, friction wear tester, and three-dimensional profile instruments. The
results showed that a certain addition of Y2O3 led to refined grains and uniformed microstructures; but, if
excessive, a weak grain refinement would be appeared. Moreover, the grain size tends to be stable with
enhancing of the Y2O3 content. Considering properties such as density, hardness, compression yield
strength, grain size, and uniform distribution of tungsten hard phase and c-(Ni, Fe) binding phase, the
comprehensive optimal amount of 0.7 wt.% of Y2O3 was attained for the alloy. Meanwhile, the SPS sintered
body also exhibited the best friction, wear behavior, and corrosion resistance in 3.5% of NaCl solution.

heat dissipation materials, package materials, integrated circuit,

Keywords microstructure, secondary ball milling, spark plasma
sintering, tungsten heavy alloy, yttrium oxide electrodes, etc. (Ref 6, 7). Generally, these alloys are usually
fabricated by the traditional powder metallurgy (PM) process,
which includes a mixture of tungsten, nickel and iron powders,
and then compaction and consolidation via liquid phase
sintering at a temperature above 1673 K (Ref 8-11). After
consolidating, the microstructure consists of coarsened spher-
1. Introduction ical body-centered cubic tungsten grains dispersed in a face-
centered cubic W-Ni-Fe solid solution matrix.
Tungsten-based heavy metal alloys (WHA) are generally In recent years, tungsten heavy alloy has been successfully
two-phase alloys with the tungsten grains contained in a ductile utilized in some extreme service conditions such as current
matrix phase. The binder phase includes a combination of fusion devices (Ref 12). However, improving the comprehen-
transition elements such as nickel, iron, copper, or cobalt (Ref sive properties is limited due to the coarse tungsten grain. The
1). Due to their distinctive intrinsic properties such as high mechanical properties are directly related to the tungsten grain
density, great strength, high melting point, low vapor pressure, size, and refinement of this size greatly enhances these features.
good thermal conductivity, low coefficient of thermal expan- In order to refine the grain size, plenty of research projects are
sion, low sputtering rate, and low tritium inventory (Ref 2-5), focused on the addition of inhibitors such as TiC, ThO2,
they have been employed in many national defense, military, Dy2O3, ZrO2, and TiN to prevent grain-growth (Ref 13-16).
and aviation fields, especially in the production of kinetic armor Rare-earth elements are considered as industrial vitamins which
piercing projectile and anti-armor products. In addition, they exhibit many unique physical and chemical properties and have
are broadly used as engineering materials for radiation shields, shown enormous potential applications in metal materials and
their alloys. Rare-earth elements of Y, Ce, and La or their
oxides are very useful to refine tungsten grain size and decrease
Xuehui Zhang, Shengjian Zhu, Chunming Wang, aggregation of oxygen and phosphorous as impurities in the
Tongxiang Liang, and Bin Yang, Faculty of Materials Metallurgy interface. Kim et al. (Ref 17) reported that the rare-earth oxide
and Chemistry, Jiangxi University of Science and Technology, Jiangxi of ThO2 causes migration of the grain boundaries and restricts
341000, Ganzhou, China; Biao Zhang, Institute of Advanced the growth of tungsten grains as the obstacles. Mueller et al.
Materials and Technology, University of Science and Technology
Beijing, Beijing 100083, China; Tahir Ahmad, Faculty of Materials
(Ref 18) revealed that the rare-earth oxides can gather
Metallurgy and Chemistry, Jiangxi University of Science and elemental impurities and purify the grain boundaries via strong
Technology, Jiangxi 341000, Ganzhou, China; and Department of rare-earth-oxygen interactions. Zhao et al. (Ref 19) studied the
Metallurgy and Materials Engineering, CEET, University of the Punjab effect of Y2O3 on the consolidation behavior, microstructure,
Lahore, Lahore, Pakistan; and Liangliang Zhou, School of Materials and mechanical properties of tungsten-based heavy alloys.
Science and Engineering, Key Laboratory of Advanced Energy Unfortunately, alloys involving high W–W contiguity, a few c-
Storage Materials of Guangdong Province, South China University
(Ni, Fe) binding phase and oxide-rich phase commonly show
of Technology, Guangzhou 510641, Guangdong, China. Contact
e-mails: zxh312264585@[Link], 1037143064@[Link], solid-state sintered microstructures, which lead to brittleness
liang_tx@[Link], and yangbin65@[Link]. and poor performance. Formation of the c-(Ni, Fe) binding

Journal of Materials Engineering and Performance Volume 28(8) August 2019—4801

phase and uniform distribution of rare-earth oxide can improve universal testing system (UTM5105) with a loading rate of
the mechanical properties of an alloy and may enhance the 0.05 mm/min. To ensure parallelism of the end-faces and
ductility of the material. A few scholars reported that annealing remove any potential damage, all of the samples were ground
and secondary ball milling could produce the c-(Ni, Fe) phase and polished. The phase structures of the sintered alloys were
with a homogeneous and refined microstructure (Ref 20). performed by using an x-ray diffractometer (XÕ Pert PRO,
Therefore, in the present investigation, a large amount of the PANalytical, Holland) with Cu Ka1 radiation (40 kV, 40 mA).
c-(Ni, Fe) phase and fined-grains of tungsten-based heavy The synthesized specimens were investigated and analyzed by
alloys of W-4.9Ni-2.1Fe-xY2O3 are fabricated by the mechan- means of field emission scanning electron microscope (JSM-
ical alloying (MA) with tungsten, nickel, iron, and Y2O3 raw 7001F, FESEM) attached with energy-dispersive x-ray spec-
powders through assisted secondary balling milling and spark trometer (EDS). At the same time, the tribological and wear
plasma sintering (SPS) processes. The effect of trace Y2O3 properties were evaluated using a high-speed reciprocating
addition on the microstructure, friction properties, and corro- friction and wear tester (HSR-2M) with a load of 7 N for 1 h as
sion behavior of tungsten-based heavy alloys is also investi- Si3N4 ball (u 5 mm) to counterpart. The reciprocating rubbing
gated. speed was 300 rpm. After wear testing, the surface morpholo-
gies of the specimens were conducted by FESEM and three-
dimensional scanning profilometer (NanoMap-500LS). The
wear track was used to calculate the wear rate. The specific
2. Experimental Details wear rate can be determined by normalizing the wear volume
with the distance travelled in the friction and the applied load.
Hydrogen-reduced tungsten powder (> 99.5 wt.%), spher- Corrosion resistance measurements were carried out in 3.5%
ical carbonyl nickel (> 99.5 wt.%), and carbonyl iron NaCl solution at room temperature by using an electrochemical
(> 99.5 wt.%) powders with the average particle size of  2 station (CHI 660E) of conventional three-electrode cell with a
lm, and pure Y2O3 powder (> 99.99 wt.%) with the submi- saturated calomel electrode (SCE) as reference electrode and a
cron particle size were used as the starting materials in the platinum plate as counter electrode. The sintered samples of
experiments. Raw composite powders of tungsten, nickel, and 1 cm2 exposed area were applied as the working electrode. The
iron were weighted as a mass ratio of 93:4.9:2.1, and the scanning speed was selected as 1 mv/s.
amount of added Y2O3 powder was 0, 0.1, 0.4, 0.7, and
1.0 wt.%, respectively. The primary ball milling with the above
starting powders was performed in a AM-3SP04 planetary ball 3. Results and Discussion
mill equipment. A ball-to-powder ratio was 5:1, and the ball
milling speed was 400 rpm/min for 2 h of grinding time by
3.1 Phase Analysis
using argon as the protective atmosphere. The 304 stainless
steel balls were considered as grinding media. In order to Figure 1 shows XRD patterns of the as-milled W-4.9Ni-
greatly enhance the binging phase and uniform distribution of 2.1Fe-xY2O3 alloy powders with different concentrations of
rare-earth oxide, the post-annealing process at the temperature Y2O3 under post-annealing and secondary ball milling. All the
of 1073 K under hydrogen annealing atmosphere was con- introduced XRD patterns demonstrated the characteristic peaks
ducted for 30 min and, then, the secondary ball milling was corresponding to the crystallographic planes of tungsten as
performed. The milling parameter was the same as the primary (110), (200), (211), and (220). The c-(Ni, Fe) phase was also
ball milling. Then, the composite powders were placed into a revealed as a very weak peak. However, observation of no
graphite mold with a diameter of 20 mm and were consolidated diffraction peak for Y2O3 suggested that the content of Y2O3
at 1523 K with a pressure of 50 MPa for 8 min by using an was extremely low and fell behind the XRD detection limit
SPS-10T-5-type vacuum furnace under the vacuum below (Ref 21). Further assignments showed that the grain size of
10 Pa. After sintering, the samples placed in the SPS equipment tungsten was first decreased rapidly and then slightly increased
were cooled down to room temperature and then taken out from with the increment in Y2O3 content (see Table 1). Addition of
the furnace. Y2O3, which is a high melting oxide and can be dispersed in c-
Relative densities of the synthesized samples were measured (Ni, Fe) phase, enhanced the nucleation rate. Moreover, the
by using Archimedes method at room temperature. The relative heating rate was high and the holding time was short in the SPS
density of a sample is the measured density divided by the process, thereby the grain refinement was easily achieved.
theoretical density. The theoretical density was calculated based When the excess Y2O3 (above 0.7 wt.%) was used, the
on the volume conservation law, as shown by Eq 1. tungsten grains showed abnormal growth and higher grain size
due to the higher contiguity of W–W was observed (Ref 20).
100 X Wi Furthermore, a supersaturated solid solution was formed when
¼ ðEq 1Þ
q qi the Ni elements came into the W atomic lattice; therefore,
dislocation and crystal defects were enhanced at the same time
where q is the theoretical density of tungsten alloy (g/cm3) and
(Ref 22, 23). Additionally, the non-equilibrium state was arisen
Wi is the mass fraction (%) of the alloying element of i. So, qi is
from the secondary ball milling and promoted precipitation of
the theoretical density of i element (g/cm3).
the c-(Ni, Fe) binding phase, as clearly indicated in Fig. 1.
Meanwhile, Rockwell hardness measurements on the pol-
ished surfaces were performed by using a HDI-1875 Rockwell
3.2 Microscopic Morphology
hardness tester with a load of 588 N and a dwell time of 10 s.
The mean values of the hardness were taken as an average of Typical SEM morphologies of the as-sintered alloys after the
five measurements. The compressive strength of u secondary ball milling are shown in Fig. 2. It can be seen that a
3 9 3.5 mm2 bars was measured at room temperature using a high proportion of tungsten-based alloy particles was hemmed

4802—Volume 28(8) August 2019 Journal of Materials Engineering and Performance

Fig. 1 XRD patterns of the W-4.9Ni-2.1Fe-xY2O3 powders with different Y2O3 contents. (a) 0 wt.%; (b) 0.1 wt.%; (c) 0.4 wt.%; (d) 0.7 wt.%;
(e) 1.0 wt.%

Table 1 Effect of Y2O3 contents on the grain size weaken of the diffraction peak intensity
Post-annealing Secondary ball milling

Y2O3 content, wt.% 2h, ¯ FWHM d, nm 2h, ¯ FWHM d, nm

0 40.27 0.139 74.7 40.46 0.162 60.7

0.1 40.21 0.176 49.8 40.44 0.208 45.3
0.4 40.36 0.199 48.2 40.67 0.286 31.7
0.7 40.30 0.157 49.9 40.80 0.273 32.1
1.0 40.31 0.146 65.5 40.52 0.182 53.7

by many soft binding phases. Tungsten particle as the hard 3.3 Determination of Mechanical Property and Relative
phase of c-(Ni, Fe) binding phase was mainly assembled in the Density
interface of tungsten grains and boundary of W–W particles,
The relative density and Rockwell hardness curves of the as-
resulting in no obvious big holes in these regions (Ref 24).
sintered alloys with different contents of Y2O3 are clearly
When the content of Y2O3 was increased from 0.1 to 1.0 wt.%,
revealed in Fig. 4. It can be seen that the relative density of
the grain refinement effect became more significant, because
alloys was all above 97%. The results revealed that the SPS
Y2O3 deviated the W–W interface, hindered migration of W
process is beneficial to obtain a compact material (Ref 27). The
interface, and led to aggregation of W particles (Ref 25). When
relative density of the alloys showed a slightly fall trend as the
the content of Y2O3 was above 0.7 wt.%, a stable grain size E
content of Y2O3 was increased. When the content of Y2O3 was
due to the gradual precipitation and stress release of Ni (W, Fe)
0.1 wt.%, the relative density reached 99.4%. A small amount
solid solution from tungsten supersaturated solid solution, so W
of Y2O3 (below 0.1 wt.%) caused the Ni(Fe) to be dissolved,
grains grew slowly (Ref 26). At the same time, the volume
and its volume fraction was enhanced; eventually, the hardness
fraction of the bonding phase was uniformly distributed around
was increased. When sintering neck grew, the porosity was
the W matrix and enhanced with the Y2O3 content. As Fig. 2(b)
effectively decreased and the relative density was briefly
shows, the as-sintered alloy with 0.1 wt.% of Y2O3 revealed no
increased. The existence of Y2O3 refined the grains and
obvious c-(Ni, Fe) phase, which confirmed a large W–W
changed the structure composition of the substance. SPS
connection. The grain size of the as-sintered alloy without
process can achieve a high density for the alloys by solid phase
Y2O3 was bigger compared to that of 0.1 wt.%, and the cracked
sintering. The main reason for a slight decrease in density may
phase had been distributed uniformly. According to the analysis
be related to the low density of Y2O3 and the unfilled gaps
(Ref 26), the annealing of powder can effectively remove the
between W atoms by c-(Ni, Fe) bonding phase. At the same
impurity elements such as C, H and O, and avoids formation of
time, the Rockwell hardness of W-4.9Ni-2.1Fe-xY2O3 alloy
a large number of holes. Moreover, Y2O3 can exhibit a solid
was found to be increased compared to W-4.9Ni-2.1Fe alloys
solution and limit the growth of W grain due to the diffusion
without Y2O3 employing.
strength effect. Figure 3 displays the micro-region EDS
Figure 5 shows the compression stress–strain curves of the
analysis of the as-prepared alloy with 1.0 wt.% of Y2O3,
samples with different contents of Y2O3. W-4.9Ni-2.1Fe alloy
which had been distributed uniformly in the interior of tungsten
without Y2O3 exhibited low compressive yield strength (CYS).
particles, bonding phase, and into the interface of tungsten and
As the Y2O3 content was enhanced, the CYS of W-4.9Ni-
bonding phase. There is no diffusion between Y2O3 particles
2.1Fe-xY2O3 samples showed a significant increase. The CYS
and WHA matrix. The dispersion distribution of Y2O3 can
of W-4.9Ni-2.1Fe alloy was 813 MPa, while it was increased to
effectively prevent the growth of W grains during sintering.
1148 MPa in the presence of 0.7 wt.% of Y2O3.

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Fig. 2 Effect of Y2O3 contents on the microstructure of W-4.9Ni-2.1Fe-xY2O3 alloy. (a) 0 wt.%; (b) 0.1 wt.%; (c) 0.4 wt.%; (d) 0.7 wt.%; (e)
1.0 wt.%

The increase in hardness and CYS with enhancing the Y2O3 re-precipitated in the interface to prevent atom diffusion and
content was mainly accompanied by the characteristics of Y2O3 substance migration, resulting in a slight decrease in CYS.
particles. Y2O3 with a high melting point (2683 K) can inhibit
the migration of grain boundaries and restricts the growth of 3.4 Wear Behavior
tungsten grains as the obstacles. Additionally, Y2O3 could be
Figure 6 shows the coefficient of friction (CoF) for W-
the core of heterogeneous nucleation in the SPS process, which
4.9Ni-2.1Fe-xY2O3 alloys in the dry friction environment. As
can significantly enhance the nucleation rate and refine the
can be observed, the CoF of W-4.9Ni-2.1Fe-Y2O3 alloy was
tungsten grain. Moreover, Y2O3 is preferential to absorb
enhanced with the increase in Y2O3 content. The general CoF
impurities and decrease aggregation of impurities which
tendency was decreased before rising, and CoF exhibited the
effectively prevent defect of bubbling. Excess Y2O3 can be
smallest friction coefficient with 0.7 wt.% of Y2O3; the average

4804—Volume 28(8) August 2019 Journal of Materials Engineering and Performance

Fig. 3 The EDS analysis of the micro-region in the samples added with 1.0 wt.% Y2O3. (a) SEM of the sample; (b) high-magnification of a;
(c) EDS of point 1; (d) EDS line scan of the interface

Fig. 4 Effect of Y2O3 contents on relative density and Rockwell hardness of as-sintered alloys

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Fig. 5 Compression stress–strain plots of the samples with different Y2O3 contents. (a) 0 wt.%; (b) 0.1 wt.%; (c) 0.4 wt.%; (d) 0.7 wt.%; (e)
1.0 wt.%

Fig. 6 Friction coefficient of the W-4.9Ni-2.1Fe alloys with different Y2O3 contents. (a) 0.1 wt.%; (b) 0.4 wt.%; (c) 0.7 wt.%; (d) 1.0 wt.%

CoF was 0.61. Moreover, CoF was rapidly increased to a grooves, clear scuffing, and some large cracks can be observed
certain value and then fluctuated during the whole experiment. in the sliding direction of the worn surface. The number and
In order to further evaluate the wear properties of the size of the cracks are related to the width of the wear tracks.
tungsten-based heavy alloys, morphologies of the worn sur- When the amount of Y2O3 was 0.7 wt.%, all results reached
faces are presented in Fig. 7 and 8. The wear tracks of W- minimum, and only shallow grooves and a smooth worn
4.9Ni-2.1Fe-xY2O3 alloys were first decreased and then surface appeared. These conclusions are in agreement with the
increased under the same testing conditions with enhancing CoF values. Figure 9 depicts the SEM images and EDS results
of the Y2O3 content. Additionally, the obvious abrasive of the dry sliding wear tests. The EDS analysis was performed

4806—Volume 28(8) August 2019 Journal of Materials Engineering and Performance

 at the two different regions in the worn surface of W-4.9Ni-
2.1Fe-0.1Y2O3 alloy. It was found that the worn surface
consisted of W, Ni, Fe, and O elements. But the Y, Si, and N
were not found, because the content of Y2O3 was low and no
materials transfer was occurred during the wear test. The two-
dimensional (2D) and three-dimensional (3D) profiles of the
wear track are presented in Fig. 10 and 11. It can be seen that
the result is the same as the width of the wear mark.
Recent reports suggest that enhancement of hardness results
in diminishing of CoF owing to the refined grains (Ref 28, 29).
The trace Y2O3 particles are detached from the interface or the
grain interior, fractured into the wear fragments during the test
and dispersed around the indenter, which improves the
lubrication and reduces the wear width or depth (Ref 30).
However, hardness is not only the sole indicator of wear
behavior of an alloy. The wear resistance also depends on the
number of c-(Ni, Fe) binding phases, surface microstructure,
and plastic deformation. The pores produce stress concentration
in the friction and wear test and form initial cracks in the wear
process. The micro-cracks easily extend into a large crack and
accelerate the wear and tear of samples. But, excess Y2O3
particles distributed in the tungsten grain boundary and
interface of c-(Ni, Fe) binding phase and tungsten grains may
Fig. 7 Worn surface morphologies of the W-4.9Ni-2.1Fe alloys
decrease the W–W and W–binder phase interface bonding
with different Y2O3 contents. (a) 0.1 wt.%; (b) 0.4 wt.%; (c)
0.7 wt.%; (d) 1.0 wt.% strength. A small amount of Y2O3 can exhibit dispersion
strengthening effect. However, the excessive addition would

Fig. 8 High-magnification observation of the worn surface. (a) 0.1 wt.%; (b) 0.4 wt.%; (c) 0.7 wt.%; (d) 1.0 wt.%

Journal of Materials Engineering and Performance Volume 28(8) August 2019—4807

Fig. 9 EDS analysis of the worn surface with 0.1 wt.% Y2O3. (a) SEM image; (b) EDS of region 1; (c) EDS of region 2

that the friction coefficient is relatively stable due to grain

refinement. Actually, the friction pairs are Si3N4 ball and
plentiful tungsten particles, which lead to the lower CoF and a
smaller wear width.
The mechanical properties of the tungsten heavy alloys are
closely related to the distribution of W particles and c-(Ni, Fe)
bonding phases. The variation trend of wear behavior is mainly
related to the relative density, hardness, Y2O3 particles, the
amount and distribution of c-(Ni, Fe) bonding phase, etc. The
relative density of alloy specimen was rather high with
0.1 wt.% of Y2O3; but, the amount of binder phase was
relatively small and caused oxides, gathered as crack source. It
firstly generates stress concentration at the crack tip and
produces brittle fracture. The increase in W–W contiguity
reduces the interface of W-bonding phase and weakens the W–
W grain boundary to form crack source under small strain and
low energy (Ref 5). The dispersion distribution of Y2O3
Fig. 10 The two-dimensional profiles of wear track of the W-
4.9Ni-2.1Fe-xY2O3 alloys (2D). (a) 0.1 wt.%; (b) 0.4 wt.%; (c) effectively prevented the growth of W grain during the
0.7 wt.%; (d) 1.0 wt.% sintering process. Therefore, oxide dispersion had a strong
influence on promoting the boundary separation. However,
excessive Y2O3 addition reduced the friction and wear
weaken the interfacial binding force, leading to the reduction in properties of the materials. The solid solution of Ni (W, Fe)
strength, plasticity, and toughness of the alloy (Ref 31). In was gradually precipitated from the tungsten supersaturated
conclusion, addition of 0.7 wt.% of Y2O3 can not only solid solution and the stress release made the grain size to be
guarantee the optimal two-phase distribution but also ensure stable. Addition of 0.7 wt.% of Y2O3 not only guaranteed the

4808—Volume 28(8) August 2019 Journal of Materials Engineering and Performance

Fig. 11 The three-dimensional profiles of frictional surface of the samples (3D). (a) 0.1 wt.%; (b) 0.4 wt.%; (c) 0.7 wt.%; (d) 1.0 wt.%

Table 2 Parameters of polarization curves of W-4.9Ni-

2.1Fe-xY2O3 alloys
Corrosion potential, Corrosion current density, A
Samples V cm22

0 wt.%  0.490 5.620 9 105

0.1 wt.%  0.465 1.675 9 105
0.4 wt.%  0.455 1.666 9 105
0.7 wt.%  0.454 1.258 9 105
1.0 wt.%  0.482 5.248 9 105

intersection to calculate the corrosion potential and corrosion

current density. The results are mainly accompanied by
impurities distributed in the grain boundary. Y2O3 particles
can gather the impurity elements as oxygen, purify grain
boundaries, induce the flow of bonding face, and improve the
relative density (Ref 32). Y2O3 acted as the starting position of
Fig. 12 Polarization curves of the W-4.9Ni-2.1Fe-xY2O3 alloys in
interface stripping, so the dispersion of Y2O3 particles and the
3.5% NaCl solution. (a) 0; (b) 0.1 wt.%; (c) 0.4 wt.%; (d) 0.7 wt.%;
(e) 1.0 wt.% number of c-(Ni, Fe) binding phases have a strong influence on
promoting the interface stripping (Ref 33).
strength of W-bond phase of the alloy sample and grain
refinement, but also ensured the uniform distribution of the
bond phase. The comprehensive exhibition of hardness,
compressive yield strength, density, strength, and toughness
4. Conclusions
caused an excellent wear resistance.
In the present study, W-4.9Ni-2.1Fe-xY2O3 alloys with
3.5 Corrosion Resistance different Y2O3 contents were successfully prepared by MA
process and SPS technique. The c-(Ni, Fe) bonding phase formed
Figure 12 reveals the potentiodynamic polarization curves in the tungsten heavy alloys played an important role in
of the samples with different Y2O3 additions. All W-4.9Ni- determining properties of the generated materials. The microstruc-
2.1Fe-(0.1-1.0 wt.%) Y2O3 alloys displayed a lower corrosion ture, Rockwell hardness, compression stress–strain, wear charac-
current and a higher corrosion potential than that of W-4.9Ni- teristics, and corrosion resistance of the alloys were also
2.1Fe alloy without Y2O3 (see Table 2). In particular, when the investigated. The conclusions could be summarized as follows:
concentration of Y2O3 was 0.4-0.7 wt.%, the anodic corrosion
current density was decreased and the corrosion potential was 1. Post-annealing and subsequent secondary ball milling can
increased. As anodic polarization potential inclined to a produce a homogeneous distribution and refinement of
positive value, the corrosion current began to increase slowly, the c-(Ni, Fe) bonding phase. This could be attributed to
showing a passive behavior (Ref 30). Then, the Tafel curves of the fact that Ni and Fe atoms were rejected by the super-
the anodic and cathodic curves were extrapolated to the

Journal of Materials Engineering and Performance Volume 28(8) August 2019—4809

 saturated tungsten solid solution matrix and formed the 12. T. Tanabe, M. Wada, T. Ohgo, and V. Philipps, Application of Tungsten
c-(Ni, Fe) precipitates during annealing. for Plasma Limiters in TEXTOR, J. Nucl. Mater., 2000, 283(287), p
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2. With the appropriate content of Y2O3, the tungsten grains
13. G.M. Song, Y.J. Wang, and Y. Zhou, Thermomechanical Properties of
were refined and the c-(Ni, Fe) bonding phase was dis- TiC Particle-Reinforced Tungsten Composites for High Temperature
tributed uniformly, because Y2O3 particles can gather Applications, Int. J. Refract. Met. Hard Mater., 2003, 21, p 1–12
impurity elements and oxygen and purify the grain 14. Y.F. Xie, L.L. Zhou, X.Y. Zhang, X.X. Li, Z.L. Zhou, and X.H. Zhang,
boundaries. Due to the segregation of excessive Y2O3 in Microstructure and Properties of W–4.9Ni–2.1Fe Heavy Alloy with
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the boundary, its effect became weak. Trace Y2O3 parti-
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This study is financially supported by the National Key 211
19. M.Y. Zhao, Z.J. Zhou, Q.M. Ding, M. Zhong, and K. Arshad, Effect of
Research and Development Program of China (Grant No. Rare Earth Elements on the Consolidation Behavior and Microstructure
2016YFB0301400), the National Natural Science Foundation of of Tungsten Alloys, Int. J. Refract. Met. Hard. Mater., 2014, 48, p 19–
China (Grant No.51871114 and 51804138), the Postdoctoral 23
Science Foundation of China (2019M652290), the Postdoctoral 20. Y.L. Pan, L. Ding, H. Li, and D.P. Xiang, Effect of Y2O3 on the
Science Foundation of Jiangxi Province (3205700012 and Microstructure and Mechanical Properties of Spark Plasma Sintered
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4810—Volume 28(8) August 2019 Journal of Materials Engineering and Performance