Tungsten-copper composite production by activated sintering and infiltration

Activated sintering of tungsten has been used to have infiltrable skeletons. For this purpose the effects of sintering temperature and activator amount were studied and appropriate production parameters were obtained. The results showed that by activated sintering, moderate sintering temperature such as 1400 degrees C can be used instead of conventional temperatures i.e. >2000 degrees C. Activated sintering has the ability to produce fully open and interconnected porosities with desirable density that is ideal for infiltration. This method of production for infiltrated W-Cu composites has not been reported elsewhere. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.