Preparation and Neutronic Studies of Tungsten Carbide Composite

AbstractBecause of their desirable structural properties, WC, WC+B4C, and WC + TiC are possible materials for use in plasma-facing components of fusion reactors like tokamaks. In this work, seven different compositions of WC-W2C composites have been prepared (30 to 50 at. % C) by an arc plasma melting technique followed by furnace cooling. Efforts have been made to produce a composite that is very hard and tough and that has a high neutron absorbing capacity by adding B4C and TiC (5 to 15 wt% each) to the starting WC powder. Microstructures of the composites were studied by field emission scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy. Multiphasic structures of the composites exhibited an absence of pores. The WC + TiC and WC + B4C composites showed improvements in microhardness over pure WC. Typical samples of WC-W2C, WC + B4C, and WC + TiC have been characterized by X-ray diffraction, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and Brunauer-Emmett-Teller techniques for analysis and correlation ...