High-strength diffusion bonding of oxide-dispersion-strengthened tungsten and CuCrZr alloy through surface nano-activation and Cu plating

doi:10.1016/j.jmst.2021.03.040

Abstract

Abstract:

Oxide-dispersion-strengthened tungsten (ODS-W) and a CuCrZr alloy were bonded by a three-step process: (i) surface nano-activation, (ii) copper plating followed by annealing, and (iii) diffusion bonding. The morphological and structural evolutions of ODS-W and the interface of the ODS-W/CuCrZr joint during these processes have been thoroughly studied by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, energy dispersive spectrometry, and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy. After surface nano-activation, a nanoporous structure of ODS-W with an average pore size of ~100 nm was obtained, and the Y₂O₃ particles therein remained unchanged. A Cu coating was tightly bonded with the surface nano-activated ODS-W after Cu plating and annealing. An interaction layer embedded with nanosized W particles was formed at the interface between ODS-W and plated Cu after the three-step process. Consequently, well-cohesive ODS-W/Cu and ODS-W/Y₂O₃/Cu interfaces were formed. The ODS-W/CuCrZr joint showed high shear strengths (up to 201 MPa) and effective bonded area ratios (>98%). The developed three-step bonding process between ODS-W and the CuCrZr alloy provides an effective support for future plasma-facing components in nuclear fusion reactor applications.

Key words: Oxide-dispersion-strengthened W, surface nano-activation, Cu plating, CuCrZr, diffusion bonding, plasma-facing components

Yuanyuan Chen, Yuan Huang, Fei Li, Lu Han, Dongguang Liu, Laima Luo, Zongqing Ma, Yongchang Liu, Zumin Wang. High-strength diffusion bonding of oxide-dispersion-strengthened tungsten and CuCrZr alloy through surface nano-activation and Cu plating[J]. J. Mater. Sci. Technol., 2021, 92: 186-194.

Figures/Tables 10

Fig. 1. Schematic diagram of the three-step bonding process between ODS-W and CuCrZr.

Fig. 2. XRD patterns of the ODS-W samples. (a) as-prepared bulk; (b) after anodization; and (c) after sequential anodization and deoxidation annealing.

Fig. 3. SEM images and EDS compositional analyses of ODS-W. (a) after anodization; (b) locally magnified SEM image in (a); (c) after sequential anodization and deoxidation annealing; and (d) locally magnified SEM image in (c). The local elemental compositions at different surface regions, as determined by quantifications of the locally collected O K, W M and Y L EDS lines, are presented in the inserted tables.

Fig. 4. SEM images of Cu plating for (a) 10 s, (b) 20 s, (c) 30 s, (d) 1 min, (e) 5 min, and (f) 15 min on the surface of nano activated ODS-W.

Fig. 5. Surface SEM images of annealed ODS-W with about (a) 300 nm and (b) 1 μm thick Cu coating (c) XRD patterns of ODS-W with about 300 nm Cu coating (I) before and (II) after annealing, and ODS-W with 1 μm thick Cu coating (III) before and (IV) after annealing.

Fig. 6. (a) Back scattered electron (BSE) image of the ODS-W/CuCrZr joint (b) Vickers microhardness distribution along the cross-section of the ODS-W/CuCrZr joint.

Fig. 7. C-scan images of the ODS-W/CuCrZr composite panels prepared by (a) the three-step process (b) direct diffusion bonding. The colors in the C-scan images indicate the normalized amplitudes of echo signals in the time domain, where red indicates the unbonded area, blue indicates perfectly bonded area, and intermediate colors indicate general bonded areas. (c) Stress-strain curves of the ODS-W/CuCrZr shear test joint prepared by the three-step process and direct diffusion bonding.

Table 1 Strength of W-based alloy/Cu-based alloy joints formed using different joining methods.

W based alloy	Cu based alloy	Joining method	Strength (MPa)	Reference
ODS-W	CuCrZr	Three-step process	201*	This work
ODS-W	CuCrZr	Direct diffusion bonding	128*	This work
W	Cu	Vacuum diffusion bonding	146^▲	[31]
W	Cu	Hot pressing joining	186*	[32]
W	Cu	Direct diffusion bonding	172^▲	[8]
W	Cu	Vacuum diffusion bonding	100*	[25]

Fig. 8. (a) SEM image and (b) corresponding EDS mapping of the shear fracture surface from the CuCrZr side of the ODS-W/CuCrZr joint, and (c) SEM image and (d) corresponding EDS mapping of the shear fracture surface from the ODS-W side of the ODS-W/CuCrZr joint.

Fig. 9. (a) TEM images of the interface structure between ODS-W and plated Cu, (b) the enlarged image of the yellow rectangle in (a) and corresponding FFT patterns of the different areas, and (c) the HRTEM images of yellow rectangle in (b) and corresponding FFT patterns of the different areas.

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