Abstract
•Full dense W-15%CuY and W-15%CuCrZr composites have been produced by Hot Isostatic Pressing.•W-15%CuY presents a higher yield strength and a stronger strain hardening that is temperature dependent.•The compressive stress originates the appearance of microtexture.
Fully dense W-15 wt%CuY and W-15 wt%CuCrZr composites have been produced by a powder metallurgy route and hot isostatic pressing. The consolidated materials show homogeneous distributions of pre-alloyed CuY and CuCrZr embedded in W phase. Y-enriched particles were found inside the CuY phase. Their mechanical behavior was studied under uniaxial compression from room temperature to 500 °C. W/CuY exhibited a higher value of the yield strength, but W/CuCrZr presented a larger compressive deformation. Both composites manifested strain hardening during plastic deformation. The deformed microstructure at 250 °C and 500 °C was characterized by electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) measurements and nanoindentation. The correlation between the plastic deformation, grain size and misorientation distributions, has been revealed.