Fabrication of 93W-Ni-Fe alloy large-diameter rods by powder extrusion molding

A powder extrusion molding (PEM) process has been used for the manufacturing of tungsten heavy alloy rods with large length to diameter ratio. An improved wax-based multi-component binder was developed for PEM of 93W-Ni-Fe alloy. The miscibility of its components and the characteristics of the binder were evaluated and good thermal-physical properties were obtained. Also, the feedstock rheological properties, extrusion molding and debinding process were studied. The feedstock exhibited a pseudo-plastic flow behavior. The large length to diameter ratio rods, with diameters up to 36 mm were extruded at 65 degrees C by optimizing the extrusion process. A two-step debinding process was employed to remove the binder in the extruded rods. Solvent debinding was carried out in n-heptane at 45 degrees C to extract the soluble components. A process of repeated short time immersion and drying of the extruded rods (called short-period solvent debinding) was developed and using this novel technique the binder removed was raised from 45% to 60%. SEM analyses indicated that a large volume of pores was formed in debound rods, but had not created interpenetrating pore channels yet. The rest of the binder could be thermally extracted at a high heating rate without defects. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.