Third international conference on tungsten and refractory metals

The Third International Conference on Tungsten and Refractory Metals was held on November 15-16, 1996 in McLean, Virginia. Despite the unexpected shutdown of the federal government, companies were well represented and participated actively. There were about 75 attendees, and about 36 papers were presented during the two-day session. The papers were grouped in the following categories: W-Cu composites, Ta and its alloys, sintering and consolidation, tungsten and its alloys, mechanical properties of refractory metals, physical metallurgy of tungsten, tungsten carbides and composites, and nanocrystalline tungsten and its alloys. Overall, the papers presented covered the important advances in this field since the previously held meeting in 1994.