J. Mater. Sci. Technol. ›› 2026, Vol. 264: 219-229.DOI: 10.1016/j.jmst.2025.11.020

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High strength-ductility tungstenheavy alloyswith superior dynamic properties

Yanzhang Daia, Huichao Chenga,*, Xu Luob, Kun Lia, Guangwei Zhangb, Bin Liua, Wanghu Panb, Yong Liua,*   

  1. aState Key Laboratory of Powder Metallurgy, Central South University, Changsha 410083, China;
    bXi’an Huashan Metal Materials Technology Co., Ltd, Xi’an 710000, China
  • Received:2025-08-10 Revised:2025-11-06 Accepted:2025-11-06 Published:2026-09-10 Online:2026-09-02
  • Contact: *E-mail addresses: cheng26@csu.edu.cn (H. Cheng), yonliu@csu.edu.cn (Y. Liu) .

Abstract: Designing tungsten heavy alloys (WHAs) with high strength-ductility and dynamic toughness remains a critical challenge, especially under cryogenic conditions. Here, we report a W-NiFeCoMn alloy with a multiple-principal-element binder and atailored processing route that overcomes these limitations, delivering exceptional cryogenic and dynamic properties.The swaged alloy achieves 1603 MPa tensile strength and 12.6% elongation at -43 °C, along with 2443 MPa dynamic compressive strength and 708 J/cm3 impact energy absorption at 4000 s-1, significantly outperforming conventional WHAs. This outstanding mechanical property arises from a hierarchical microstructure enabled by coupled strengthening mechanisms. Theγ phase,designed as a multi-principal element alloy (MPEA),facilitates solid solution strengthening and promotes a stress-induced face-centered cubicto body-centered cubictransformation at cryogenic temperatures, which increases dislocation density and narrows interphase hardness mismatch. Rotary swaging induces specific interfacial structures and short-rangegrain orientation ordering in the γ phase, improving dislocation slip and transfer at the W-γ interface. Subsequent annealing promotes the formation ofcoherent L12 nanoprecipitates, which act as dislocation sources without disrupting lattice continuity and stimulate twinformation. The synergistic effect of TRIP and TWIP mechanisms can effectively relieve W-γ interfacial stress and enhance plasticity.Under high-strain-rate loading, the swaged alloy forms adiabatic shear bands, deformation twins, and interfacial compositional gradients in W and γ phases, which jointly suppress stress localization and enhance energy absorption. These hierarchical structural features—lattice distortion, phase transformation, interfacial plasticity, and precipitation strengthening—synergistically improve strength, ductility, and dynamic toughness, offering a promising pathway for next-generation high-performance WHAsunder extreme environments.

Key words: WHAs, Strengthen-ductility, MPEAs, L12 nanoprecipitates, Dynamic properties