The effect of tungsten content on the rolling texture and microstructure of Ta-W alloys

Abstract The effect of tungsten content on deformation texture and microstructure of Ta-W alloy is studied. It is found that the increase of tungsten content results in the strengthening of α-fiber and the weakening of γ-fiber in Ta-W alloys. The volume fraction of γ-fiber developed in Ta-10W alloy is lower than that in Ta-2.5W alloys. Meanwhile, a more significant through-thickness texture gradient is formed in Ta-10W alloy. The addition of tungsten has an important effect on the ability cross-slip of dislocations. Therefore, more dislocation loops and activated slip systems can be seen in Ta-2.5W alloy. The size of the dislocation cells in Ta-2.5W alloy is larger than that in Ta-10W alloy. As shear bands tends to appear in γ-fiber, the density of shear bands in the Ta-2.5W alloy is much higher than that of Ta-10W alloy at the same reduction strain. Meanwhile, the wavelength of the wavy shear bands in Ta-10W alloy is smaller than that in Ta-2.5W alloy. In Ta-10W alloy, new grains with Goss orientation can be seen in periodic shear bands developed in {111} orientations, which is different from that in Ta-2.5W alloy.