Fabrication and Characterization of Tungsten-Vanadium-Chromium Alloy by Spark Plasma Sintering

W-(10 similar to 30)V-(10 similar to 30)Cr ternary alloys were fabricated by ball milling and subsequent spark plasma sintering(SPS), their microstructures and mechanical properties at ambient temperature were investigated. The results show that the nearly full dense billet of W-30V-20Cr alloy can be prepared by SPS, its relative density is 99.7%, its actual density is 49.74% lower than that of pure tungsten. The microscopic analysis shows that V and Cr can be alloyed excellently and the plastic continuous phase is formed, which continuously surrounds the tungsten dispersed phase and improves the mechanical properties of tungsten alloys. The W-30V-20Cr alloy has a bending strength of 437.13 MPa which increases by 25% compared to that of the sintered pure tungsten. The W-30V-20Cr alloy has a HV hardness of 6154 MPa, a high fracture toughness of 15.51 MPa.m(1/2).