Bulk Nanostructured Tungsten for Extreme Environments

Project Information

BulkNanoWe2

Grant agreement ID: 101146534

DOI

10.3030/101146534

Project closed

EC signature date 24 April 2024

Start date 1 May 2024

End date 31 October 2025

Funded under

• European Research Council (ERC)

Total cost

No data

EU contribution

€ 150 000,00

Coordinated by

MONTANUNIVERSITAET LEOBEN
Austria

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - BulkNanoWe2 (Bulk Nanostructured Tungsten for Extreme Environments)

Reporting period: 2024-05-01 to 2025-10-31

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

Tungsten (W) is indispensable for extreme environments due to its outstanding properties, enabling applications from fusion plasma-facing parts and rocket nozzles to X-ray tubes and microelectronic components. Yet, its intrinsic brittleness, together with its high melting point, limit safe deployment and complicate conventional processing and additive manufacturing, which tend to yield coarse-grained, cleavage-prone microstructures with residual porosity and cracking issues. In the ERC Consolidator Grant TOUGHIT, we demonstrated that tailoring W to a nanostructured state and engineering grain boundary segregation can simultaneously enhance strength, ductility, and toughness on laboratory-scale parts, well beyond conventional bulk W, establishing the scientific basis for industrial translation.
BulkNanoWe2 aims to convert this laboratory success into industrially viable manufacturing of near-net-shaped W components. The central approach is to use spark plasma sintering (SPS) to consolidate nanopowders rapidly at comparably low temperatures (1200–1600°C) within minutes, thereby limiting grain growth and preserving refined microstructures. In SPS, the initial densification rate is governed by boundary diffusion and scales inversely with particle size, motivating the use of nanoscale powders to promote densification at low temperatures and short times. To suppress grain growth during consolidation and strengthen grain boundaries in service, the project employs interface engineering via doping (e.g. using B) to impede grain boundary mobility and/or accelerate densification through mechanisms such as nanophase separation. We target significant performance increase relative to conventional bulk W, delivering lighter, more resource-efficient, and safer components. Achieving this in an industrial framework enables near-net-shape parts to be produced with dramatically reduced energy and cycle time on industry-standard SPS tools, with strong prospects for transfer to sectors ranging from fusion and medical imaging to microelectronics and chemical processing.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

Implementation focused on bridging the gap between laboratory processing (high-pressure torsion, HPT) and industrially scalable consolidation (SPS/hot pressing). TOUGHIT relied on HPT pressures of ~10 GPa, which are only achievable for sub-centimeter samples. In contrast, SPS and hot pressing operate at ~200 MPa for larger geometries. Early trials showed that processing pure commercial W nanopowders under these lower industrial pressures resulted in rapid grain growth and grain sizes of several micrometers, rather than the desired nanostructure. It became evident that adjusting SPS parameters alone is insufficient to arrest grain growth at these pressures, underscoring the need for microstructure control by design.
Consequently, the project prioritized a synthesis strategy that modifies grain boundary behavior and densification kinetics at the powder level. Alloying strategies for W nanopowders were investigated with two goals: (i) impede grain boundary mobility to counter coarsening, and (ii) accelerate densification, for example via nanophase separation, to reach high density quickly and at lower temperatures. While mechanical alloying can mix powders, its drawbacks, such as media wear, contamination, and irregular particle morphology, were deemed significant for industrial transferability, steering the project toward approaches that better preserve powder purity and morphology.
Process development proceeded with SPS optimization, emphasizing a data-driven workflow: systematic variation of pressure, temperature, and time; microstructural characterization (grain size distributions, pore fractions), and hardness mapping to correlate microstructure and properties while identifying gradients or surface effects. All process steps, parameters, and outcomes were electronically documented to ensure reproducibility and facilitate transfer to industrial equipment and product requirements.
These efforts culminated in identifying parameter windows that maximize densification while avoiding unnecessary grain growth, meeting the deliverable goal of achieving dense components with refined microstructures under industrially relevant constraints. Beyond technical progress, knowledge transfer and dissemination advanced through presentations and publications (one proceeding published, one manuscript under review and another one in preparation) to engage both scientific and industrial communities. The data management plan (Deliverable 2) was completed early, and no part of the action was subcontracted. Industrial collaboration remained robust, the company partner provided access to powder resources and SPS facilities and supported the alignment of process parameters with production capabilities and target product specifications throughout the project.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

BulkNanoWe2 establishes a manufacturing route for bulk nanostructured W that explicitly addresses the bottlenecks discovered when transitioning from HPT to SPS-scale processing. The key advance is the recognition, and corresponding process design, that under industrially accessible pressures (~200 MPa), standard SPS parameter tuning alone cannot preserve nanostructures in pure commercial W nanopowder. Instead, powder-level interface engineering is required to stabilize grain size and accelerate densification. By exploring alloying strategies that either reduce grain boundary mobility or exploit nanophase separation to speed densification, this approach differentiates itself from traditional mechanical alloying by explicitly avoiding contamination and morphology degradation associated with ball milling, which are unacceptable risks for industrial adoption of high-performance refractory components. Integrated with SPS’s intrinsic advantages, fast Joule heating, lower temperatures, and short cycles, the strategy is tailored to minimize grain growth windows while achieving high densification, setting the stage for dense, fine-grained components at relevant scales. The process is supported by a rigorous, transferrable optimization methodology: quantitative microstructure and porosity mapping over cross-sections, hardness-property correlations, and contingency for post-deformation densification if required. This methodological discipline, combined with full electronic documentation accelerates the path to technology transfer and commercialization.
The targeted performance gains translate directly into resource efficiency and safety improvements across safety-critical applications. In parallel, the reduced time/temperature profile offered by SPS substantially reduces energy and cycle time compared to conventional sintering, reinforcing both environmental and economic advantages. Finally, the project’s knowledge transfer strategy includes documentation for knowledge transfer, dissemination adapted to the scientific community and potential patenting, ensuring that commercialization can proceed efficiently from a robust scientific and process foundation.
In conclusion, BulkNanoWe2 delivers an industrially oriented, interface-engineered pathway to dense, fine-grained tungsten using SPS under realistic pressure constraints, overcoming the primary obstacles encountered in direct scale-up from laboratory HPT, and positions the technology for rapid transfer to applications that demand exceptional performance in extreme environments.

From the fundamental concept in TOUGHIT to bulk parts in BulkNanoWe2