Weldability of Tungsten and Its Alloys
Tungsten and its alloys can be successfully joined by gas tungsten-arc welding,
gas tungsten-arc braze welding, electron beam welding and by chemical vapor deposition
BY N . C. C O L E , R. G. G I L L I L A N D
ABSTRACT. The weldability of tungsten
and a number of its alloys consolidated
by arc casting, powder metallurgy, or
chemical-vapor deposition (CVD) tech-
niques was evaluated. Most of the mate-
rials used were nominally 0.060 in. thick
sheet. The joining processes employed
were (1) gas tungsten-arc welding, (2)
gas tungsten-arc braze welding, (3) elec-
tron beam welding and (4) joining by
CVD.
Tungsten was successfully welded by
all of these methods but the soundness
of the welds was greatly influenced by
the types of base and filler metals
(i.e. powder or arc-cast products). For
example, welds in arc-cast material were
comparatively free of porosity whereas
welds in powder metallurgy products
were usually porous, particularly along
the fusion line. For gas tungsten-arc
(GTA) welds in V ] 0 in. unalloyed tung-
sten sheet, a minimum preheat of 150°
C (which was found to be the ductile-
to-brittle transition temperature of the
base metal) produced welds free of
cracks. As base metals, tungsten-rhenium
alloys were weldable without preheat,
but porosity was also a problem with
tungsten alloy powder products. Pre-
heating appeared not to affect weld po-
rosity which was primarily a function
of the type of base metal.
The ductile-to-brittle transition tem-
peratures (DBTT) for gas tungsten-arc
welds in different types of powder metal-
lurgy tungsten were 325 to 475° C, as
compared to 150° C for the base metal
and that of 425° C for electron beam-
welded arc-cast tungsten.
Braze welding of tungsten with dis-
similar filler metals apparently did not
produce better joint properties than did
other joining methods. We used Nb, Ta,
W-26% Re, Mo and Re as filler metals
in the braze welds. The Nb and Mo
caused severe cracking.
Joining by CVD at 510 to 560° C
N. C. COLE and G. M. SLAUGHTER are
with Metals and Ceramics Div., Oak Ridge
National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tenn.:
R. G. GILLILAND is with the University
of Wisconsin. Milwaukee.
Paper presented at the American Welding
Society 49th Annual Meeting, Chicago,
April 1-5. 1968.
A N D G. M . SLAUGHTER
eliminated all but a small amount of
porosity and also eliminated the prob-
lems associated with the high tempera-
tures necessary for welding (such as
large grains in the weld and heat-af-
fected zones).
Introduction
Tungsten and tungsten-base alloys
are being considered for a number of
advanced nuclear and space applica-
tions including thermionic conversion
devices, reentry vehicles, high temper-
ature fuel elements and other reactor
components. Advantages of these ma-
terials are their combinations of very
high melting temperatures, good
strengths at elevated temperatures,
high thermal and electrical conductivi-
ties and adequate resistance to corro-
sion in certain environments. Since
brittleness limits their fabricability,
the usefulness of these materials in
structural components under rigorous
service conditions depends greatly
upon the development of welding
procedures to provide joints that are
comparable in properties to the base
metal. Therefore, the objectives of
these studies were to (1) determine
the mechanical properties of joints
produced by different joining methods
in several types of unalloyed and al-
loyed tungsten; (2) evaluate the
effects of various modifications in heat
treatments and joining technique; and
(3) demonstrate the feasibility of
fabricating test components suitable
for specific applications.
Materials
Unalloyed tungsten in 1 / 3 6 in.
thick sheets was the material of most
interest. The unalloyed tungsten in this
study was produced by powder metal-
lurgy, arc casting and chemical-vapor
deposition techniques. Table 1 shows
the impurity levels of the powder met-
allurgy, CVD and arc-cast tungsten
products as received. Most fall within
the ranges nominally found in tungsten
WELDING
but it should be noted that the CVD
material contained more than the nor-
mal amounts of fluorine.
Various sizes and shapes of tung-
sten and tungsten alloys were joined
for comparison. Most of them were
powder metallurgy products although
some arc-cast materials were also
welded. Specific configurations were
used to determine the feasibility of
building structures and components.
All materials were received in a fully
cold worked condition with the excep-
tion of the CVD tungsten, which was
received as-deposited. Because of the
increased brittleness of recrystallized
and large-grained tungsten the materi-
al was welded in the worked condition
to minimize grain growth in the heat-
affected zone. B e c a u s e o f t h e
high cost of the material and the
relatively small amounts available, we
designed test specimens that used the
minimum amount of material consist-
ent with obtaining the desired in-
formation.
Procedure
Since the ductile-to-brittle transition
temperature (DBTT) of tungsten is
above room temperature, special care
must be used in handling and machin-
ing to avoid cracking 1 . Shearing
causes edge cracking and we have
found that grinding and electrodis-
charge machining leave heat checks
on the surface. Unless they are re-
moved by lapping, these cracks may
propagate during welding and subse-
quent use.
Tungsten, like all refractory metals,
must be welded in a very pure atmos-
phere of either inert gas (gas tung-
sten-arc process) or vacuum (electron
beam process) 2 to avoid contamina-
tion of the weld by interstitials. Since
tungsten has the highest melting point
of all metals (3410° C ) , welding
equipment must be capable of with-
standing the high service tempera-
tures.
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420-S i S E P T E M B E R 1971
 ["CARTRIDGE HEATER

.-THERMOCOUPLE

CARTRIDGE HEATER

Fig. 1—Automatic welding apparatus. A (left)—apparatus incontrolled atmosphere chamber (arrow points to preheating
fixture; B (right)—schematic of preheating fixture

Results for Unalloyed Tungsten
General Weldability
Gas Tungsten-A rc Welding — In
gas tungsten-arc welding of V 1 6 in.
thick unalloyed sheet, the work must
be substantially preheated to prevent
brittle failure under stress induced by
thermal shock. Figure 2 shows a typi-
cal fracture produced by welding with-
out proper preheating. The large grain
size and shape of the weld and heat-
affected zone are evident in the frac-
ture. Investigation of preheating tem-
peratures from room temperature to
540° C showed that preheating to a
minimum of 150° C was necessary for
consistent production of one-pass butt
welds that were free of cracks. This
temperature corresponds to the DBTT
of the base metal. Preheating to high-
er temperatures did not appear to be
necessary in these tests but material
with a higher DBTT, or configurations
that involve more severe stress con-
centrations or more massive parts,
may require preheating to higher tem-
peratures.
The quality of a weldment depends
greatly upon the procedures used in
fabricating the base metals. Autog-
enous welds in arc-cast tungsten are
essentially free from porosity, Fig.
3A, but welds in powder metallurgy
tungsten are characterized by gross
porosity, Fig. 3 ( b ) , particularly along
the fusion line. The amount of this
porosity, Fig. 3B, particularly along
3C, in welds made in a proprietary,
low porosity product (GE-15 pro-
duced by General Electric Co., Cleve-
land).
Gas tungsten-arc welds in CVD
tungsten have unusual heat-affected
zones due to the grain structure of the
base metal 7 . Figure 4 shows the face
and corresponding cross section of
such a gas tungsten-arc butt weld.
Note that the fine grains at the sub-
strate surface have grown due to the
heat of welding. Also evident is the
lack of growth of the large columnar
grains. The columnar grains have gas
bubbles at grain boundaries caused by
fluorine impurities 8 . Consequently, if
the fine grain substrate surface is re-
moved before welding, the weldment
does not contain a metallographically
detectable heat-affected zone. Of
course, in worked CVD material (such
as extruded or drawn tubing) the
heat-affected zone of the weld has
the normal recrystallized grain struc-
ture.
Cracks were found in the columnar
grain boundaries in the HAZ of sever-
al welds in CVD tungsten. This crack-
ing, shown in Fig. 5, was caused by
rapid formation and growth of bub-
bles in the grain boundaries at high-
temperatures". At the high tempera-
tures involved in welding, the bubbles
were able to consume much of the
grain boundary area; this, combined
with the stress produced during cool-
ing, pulled the grain boundaries apart
to form a crack. A study of bubble
formation in tungsten and other metal
deposits during heat treatment shows
that bubbles occur in metals deposited
below 0.3 T m (the homologous melt-
ing temperature). This observation
suggests that gas bubbles form by
coalescence of entrapped vacancies
and gases during annealing. In the
case of CVD tungsten, the gas is
probably fluorine or a fluoride com-
pound 10 .
Electron Beam Welding — Unal-
loyed tungsten was electron beam
welded with and without preheating.
The need for preheat varied with the
thickness, length and shape of the
Table 2—Typical Analyses of Interstitials in Una lloyed Tungsten After Welding
Weld metal
Type of tungsten F N2
Typical powder metallurgy 14.7
Proprietary powder metal-
lurgy, low porosity 7.9
Chemically vapor deposited 9.3
Arc cast 1 1
specimen. To ensure a weld free of
cracks, preheating at least to the
DBTT of the base metal is recom-
mended. Electron beam welds in pow-
der metallurgy products also have the
weld porosity mentioned previously.
Gas Tungsten-Arc Braze Welding—
In an effort to establish whether braze
welding could be used to advantage,
we experimented with the gas tungsten-
arc process for making braze welds
on powder metallurgy tungsten sheet.
The braze welds were made by pre-
placing the filler metal along the butt
joint before welding. Braze welds were
produced with unalloyed Nb, Ta, Mo,
Re, and W—26% Re as filler metals.
As expected, there was porosity at the
fusion line in metallographic sections
of all joints (Fig. 6) since the base
metals were powder metallurgy prod-
ucts. Welds made with niobium and
molybdenum filler metals cracked.
The hardnesses of welds and braze
welds were compared by means of a
study of bead-on-plate welds made
with unalloyed tungsten and W—26%
Re as filler metals. The gas tungsten-
arc welds and braze welds were made
manually on unalloyed tungsten pow-
der metallurgy products (the low
porosity, proprietary (GE-15) grade
and a typical commercial grade).
Welds and braze welds in each mate-
rial were aged at 900, 1200, 1600
and 2000° C for 1, 10, 100 and 1000
hr. The specimens were examined
metallographically, and hardness trav-
erses were taken across the weld, heat-
affected zone, and base metal both
as-welded and after heat treatment.
Interstitial content, ppm
Base m e t a l —
O, C F N2 0, C
4 56 <20 2.9 5 41 <20
1 120 <20 <2 1 140 <20
1 72 <20 10.5-23 1 52 <20
10 14 1 1 7 14

W E L D I N G RESEARCH S U P P L E M E N T | 421-s

WmmMtZjwms,''.
Fig. 2—Gas tungsten-arc weld in unalloyed tungsten. A (top)—fracture which occurred while welding without a preheat;
B (bottom)—end view of the fracture. Note the contrasting intergranular failure of weld and heat-affected zone versus the
cleavage type failure of the base metal
Since the materials used in this study
were powder metallurgy products,
varying amounts of porosity were
present in the weld and braze weld
deposits. Again, the joints made with
typical powder metallurgy tungsten
base metal had more porosity than
those made with the low porosity,
proprietary tungsten. The braze welds
made with W—26% Re filler metal
had less porosity than the welds made
with the unalloyed tungsten filler metal.
No effect of time or temperature
was discerned on the hardness of the
welds made with unalloyed tungsten
as filler metal. As welded, the hard-
ness measurements of the weld and
base metals were essentially constant
and did not change after aging.
However, the braze welds made with
W—26% Re filler metal were consid-
erably harder as produced than the
base metal (Fig. 7 ) . Probably the
higher hardness of the W-Re braze
weld deposit was due to solid solution
hardening and/or the presence of o-
phase finely distributed in the so-
lidified s t r u c t u r e . The tungsten-
rhenium phase diagram 11 shows that
localized areas of high rhenium con-
tent could occur during rapid cooling
and result in the formation of the
hard, brittle o- phase in the highly
segregated substructure. Possibly the o-
phase was finely dispersed in the
grains or grain boundaries, although
none was large enough to be identified
by either metallographic examination
or X-ray diffraction.
Hardness is plotted as a function of
distance from the braze-weld center
line for different aging temperatures
in Fig. 7A. Note the abrupt change
422-s I S E P T E M B E R 1971
• _ ,
Fig. 3—Centogenous gas tungsten-arc
welds in tungsten. A (top)—arc-cast
tungsten, B (middle)—typical powder
metallurgy tungsten, C (bottom)—propri-
etary, low porosity powder metallurgy
tungsten. Etchant: 25% H20», 25%
NH..OH, 50% H.0 (reduced 50% in re-
production.
..- 7\77 -
;:,.„,... . 1 , - . - ' , . ' ::*;.. .
in hardness at the fusion line. With
increasing aging temperature, the
hardness of the braze weld decreased
until, after 100 hr at 1600° C, the
hardness was the same as that of the
unalloyed tungsten base metal. This
trend of decreasing hardness with in-
creasing temperature held true for all
aging times. Increasing time at a con-
stant temperature also caused a simi-
lar decrease in hardness, as shown for
an aging temperature of 1200° C in
Fig. 7B.
Joining by Chemical Vapor Deposi-
tion—Joining of tungsten by CVD
techniques was investigated as a meth-
od for producing welds in various
specimen designs. By use of appropri-
ate fixtures and masks to limit deposi-
tion to the desired areas, CVD and
powder metallurgy tungsten sheets
were joined and end closures on tub-
ing were produced. Deposition into a
bevel with an included angle of about
90 deg produced cracking, Fig. 8A,
at the intersections of columnar grains
growing from one face of the bevel
and the substrate (which was etched
away). However, high integrity joints
without cracking or gross buildup of
impurities were obtained, Fig. 8B,
when the joint configuration was
changed by grinding the face of the
base metal to a radius of V 2 in.
tangent to the root of the weld.
To demonstrate a typical applica-
tion of this process in fabrication of
fuel elements, a few end closures were
made in tungsten tubes. These joints
were leak-tight when tested with a
helium mass spectrometer leak detec-
tor.
 : • ' • •

-:•:-;..7: ~,
... -A
Fig. 4—Gas tungsten-arc butt weld in chemically vapor deposited tungsten; top view and cross section. Etchant: H20a
NHXIH, H20
V

J
Fig. 5—Cracking and bubble formation in heat-affected zone of weld in chemically
vapor-deposited tungsten. Same general area is shown at increasing magnifications.
Etchant: H202, NH,OH, H20

Mechanical Properties
Bend Tests of Fusion Welds—
Ductile-to-brittle transition curves
were determined for various joints in
unalloyed tungsten. The curves in Fig.
9 shows that the DBTT of two powder
metallurgy base metals was about
150° C. Typically, the DBTT (the
lowest temperature at which a 90 to
105 deg bend could be made) of both
materials increased greatly after weld-
ing. The transition temperatures in-
creased about 175° C to a value of
325° C for typical powder metallurgy
tungsten and increased about 235° C
to a value of 385° C for the low
porosity, proprietary material. The
difference in the DBTTs of welded
and unwelded material was attributed
to the large grain size and possible
redistribution of impurities of the
welds and heat-affected zones. The
test results show that the DBTT of
typical powder metallurgy tungsten
welds was lower than that of the pro-
prietary material, even though the lat-
ter had less porosity. The higher DBTT
of the weld in the low porosity tung-
sten may have been due to its slightly
larger grain size, Fig. 3A and 3C.
The results of investigations to de-
termine D B T T s for a number of
joints in unalloyed tungsten are sum-
marized in Table 3. The bend tests
were quite sensitive to changes in
testing procedure. Root bends ap-
peared to be more ductile than face
bends. A properly selected stress relief Fig. 6—Braze welds on powder metallurgy tungsten sheet. The various fille
after welding appeared to lower the metals used are columbium, tantalum, W—26% Re, molybdenum, and rhe
DBTT substantially. The CVD tung- nium. As-polished

WELDING RESEARCH SUPPLEMENT | 423-s

 TYPICAL POWDER METALLURGY
o BASE METAL
-4 WELDS
PROPRIETARY LOW POROSITY POWDER METALLURGY
• BASE METAL
* WELDS

80
r n'
60

•
BASE METAL
rn
E& / 1 WFI ns

20 i /
1 J JZ
200 300 400
TEMPERATURE (°C1
. '. TEMPERATURE- 2 0 0 * C
F i g . 9—Ductile-to-brittle t r a n s i t i o n
^-AS W LMo curves for powder metallurgy tungsten

""^r^fe0"
base metal and welds

7 wm contrast to unalloyed tungsten, W—

! Fig. 8—Joints made by chemical vapor
deposition process between powder
— — WELO MET metallurgy tungsten sheets. A (top)—
crack in joint at intersections of col-
umnar grains. Bevel was 90 deg included
DISTANCE FROM WELD CENTE!
angle. B (bottom)—joint free of cracks.
Fig. 7—Effect of aging on hardness of Bevel was ground to a radius of y2 in.
tangent to the root of the weld. Etchant:
powder metallurgy tungsten welded
H202, NH,OH, H20 (reduced 57% in re-
with W—26<% Re filler metal. A (top)—
effect of varying temperature at con- production)
stant 100-hr aging time. B (bottom)—
effect of varying time at constant 1200° Bend Tests of Braze Welds—Gas
C aging temperature. Diamond pyramid
tungsten-arc braze welds made with
hardness tested at 1-kg load
Nb, Ta, Mo, Re, and W—26% Re as
filler metals were also bend tested and
sten had, as welded, the highest DBTT the results are summarized in Table 4.
(560° C ) ; yet when it was given a The most ductility (a 90 deg bend
1 hr stress relief of 1000° C after angle at 525° C) was obtained with a
welding, its DBTT dropped to 350° rhenium braze weld. (This amount of
C. Stress relief of arc welded powder bending is probably borderline since
metallurgy tungsten for 1 hr at 1800° the specimen was cracked when re-
C reduced the DBTT of this material moved from the testing rig.)
by about 100° C from the value de-
Although the results of this cursory
termined for it as-welded. A stress
study indicate that a dissimilar filler
relief of 1 hr at 1000° C on a joint
metal may produce joints with
made by CVD methods produced the
mechanical properties inferior to
lowest DBTT (200° C ) . It should be
those of homogeneous welds in tung-
noted that, while this transition tem-
sten, some of these filler metals may
perature was considerably lower
be useful in practice.
than any other transition temperature
determined in this study, the improve-
ment was probably influenced by the
Results for Tungsten Alloys
lower strain rate (0.1 vs 0.5 ipm) General Weldability
used in tests on CVD joints. Gas Tungsten-Arc Welding—In
26% Re tubing and sheet were autog-
enously welded without the need for
preheat. Powder metallurgy W—26%
Re, like the unalloyed powder metal-
lurgy tungsten, also exhibited weld
porosity, Fig. 10A. The absence of
porosity in arc cast W—26% Re, Fig.
10B, again illustrates the influence
of the process history of the base
metal upon weldability.
Tungsten-rhenium-molybdenum ma-
terial can also be welded without
preheating. However, a high tempera-
ture stress relief near the recrystalliza-
tion temperature is needed before
welding. Without a sufficient stress
relief, severe centerline cracking may
be encountered at the centerline, as
shown in Fig. 11. A stress relief of
1300° C for 1 hr eliminated the prob-
lem. Powder products again exhibited
large amounts of porosity.
Electron Beam Welding—Electron
beam welds in tungsten alloys are
illustrated in Fig. 12. End caps were
welded to several test capsules with a
defocused electron beam. Both the
cap and the capsule shown in Fig.
12A were made of powder metallur-
gy W—25% Re. Note the gross poros-
ity at the fusion lines. The specimen
shown in Fig. 12B had an arc cast
cap and a powder metallurgy capsule.
No porosity was present near the fu-

Table 3—Ductile-to-Brittle Transition Temperatures of Joints in Una lloyed Tungsten

Surface Approximate
Joining technique T y p e of t u n g s t e n Type bend in t e n s i o n Joint c o n d i t i o n DBTT" (°C)
Gas t u n g s t e n - a r c Powder m e t a l l u r g y Longitudinal Face b As w e l d e d 450
Longitudinal Root As w e l d e d 325
Transverse Face As w e l d e d 475
Longitudinal Face Stress r e l i e v e d , 1800°C <350
Stress r e l i e v e d , 2800°C >500
Powder m e t a l l u r g y Longitudinal Root As w e l d e d 385
(low porosity)
CVD Longitudinal Face As w e l d e d 560
CVD Longitudinal Face Stress r e l i e v e d , 1000°C 350
Electron-beam Arc cast Longitudinal Face As w e l d e d 425
CVD Powder m e t a l l u r g y Longitudinal Face Stress r e l i e v e d , 1000°C 235b
CVD Longitudinal Face Stress r e l i e v e d , 1000°C 200"

a
Ductile-to-brittle transition temperature, defined as lowest temperature at which specimen bent fully (90 to 105 deg without cracking.
b
Bend test strain rate changed to 0.1 ipm (all others tested at 0.5 i pm).

424-s | S E P T E M B E R 1971
 Table 4—Results of Longitudinal Bend Tests at 525° C of Gas Tungsten-Arc
Braze Welds in Powder Metallurgy Tungsten
Bend angle at
which first crack
Filler metal occurred (deg) Visual observations of tested specimens
Niobium 14 Fractured across entire width
Tantalum 53 Cracks in weld, heat-affected zone, and base
metal
W-26% Re 17 Cracks in weld and heat-affected zone
Molybdenum 44 Fractured across entire width
Rhenium 90 Very slight crack in weld

sion line with the arc cast cap. Figure
12(c) shows both an arc cast cap and
capsule of W — 5 % Mo, which con-
tains no porosity at either interface.
This type of evidence is found fre-
quently with both unalloyed tungsten
and tungsten alloys.
Component Fabrication
Another part of our program con-
cerns determining the feasibility of
fabricating test components from
tungsten and tungsten alloys. A
demonstration assembly simulating a
corrosion loop was successfully tung-
sten arc, braze welded, Fig. 13A.
Nondestructive inspection revealed
the welds to be helium leak-tight and
crack-free. It was constructed from
0.275-in. OD by 0.035-in. wall CVD
tungsten tubing. It was welded manu-
ally in a chamber with a controlled
atmosphere of very pure argon. In an
effort to reduce the required heat
input, W—26% Re was chosen as the
filler metal.
In general, problems increase in
making manual welds as the tempera-
ture increases (glove deterioration,
welder inconvenience). Also, in build-
ing complex components, the lower
heat required for braze welding is a
definite advantage in decreasing weld
stresses and reducing the size of the
heat-affected zone. In the case of a
small thin tube welded to a large
component, a filler metal with a lower
melting point increases the ease and
assurance of making the joint without
melting through the thin tube.
Metallographic e x a m i n a t i o n of
these prototype welds revealed that
they had complete penetration, no
cracks and only a small amount of
fine porosity. Figure 13B shows the
difference in grain growth exhibited
by the two tungsten tubes. In the
bottom tube, the grains grew very
little as compared to the rapid grain
growth in the vertical tube. Since the
porosity shown was along the inter-
face between the braze weld deposit
and the fine grained tungsten tube, a
higher concentration of impurities
may be present in the grain bound-
aries of the fine grained tube, which
may have slowed the grain growth.
Upon closer examination the o-
phase of the tungsten-rhenium system
was discovered near the edge of the
braze weld, Fig. 13C. It was posi-
tively identified by microprobe analy-
sis and by the use of special etching
techniques (0.5 N NaOH solution pref-
erentially attacks o- phase in tungsten-
rhenium). Sigma phase, since it is hard
and brittle, is an undesired microcon-
stituent. Microsegregation during sol-
idification of the weld metal probably
produced areas high enough in rheni-
um content to form the o- phase.
Fig. 10—Autogenous gas tungsten-arc
welds in W—26% Re. A (top)—weld in
powder metallurgy base metal. B (bot-
tom)—weld in arc-cast base metal.
Etchant: H202, NH.OH (reduced 62% in
reproduction)
Conclusions
Tungsten and many of its alloys can
be successfully joined by welding,
braze welding, and chemical vapor
deposition, provided certain techniques
are used. Special machining proc-
esses must be employed, the material
must be handled with care, and equip-
ment must be capable of producing
and handling the extreme heat needed
for welding tungsten. For single-pass
welds in unalloyed tungsten, the
workpiece must be heated to at least
the DBTT of the base metal before
welding to avoid transverse cracking.
Neither W—26% Re nor W—25%
Re—30% Mo required this preheat
because the transition temperatures of
the base metals are below room tem-
perature. However, a preheat may be
desirable for large or complex struc-
tures, which may require multipass
welds.
Possibly because of solid solution
hardening and the presence of o-
phase, W—26% Re weld metal is

W-25% Re W-25%Re W-3%Mo

Fig. 11—Effect of stress relief on welds
in W—25% Re—30% Mo. A (top)—stress
relieved 1 hr at 950° C. B (bottom)—
stress relieved 1 hr at 1300° C
Fig. 12—Electron beam welds in tungsten alloy capsules. Porosity is located only
at the interface of weld metal and powder metallurgy product. A (left)—powder
metallurgy tungsten cap and tube, B (center)—arc-cast tungsten cap and powder
metallurgy tungsten tube, and C (right)—arc-cast tungsten cap and tube (reduced
25% in reproduction)

WELDING RESEARCH SUPPLEMENT | 425-s

 Fig. 13—Simulated corrosion loop braze welded with W—26% Re filler metal. A (left)—completed loop, B (middle)—
cross section of one of the braze-welds; C (right)—higher magnification (X100) of the root of the weld. Note the a
phase along the edge of the root. Etchant: 25% NH4OH, 25% H202, and 50% H»0.

harder than unalloyed tungsten (480
vs 400 dph). Aging for increasing
times and temperatures up to 1600° C
and 1000 hr decreases the hardness of
the W—26% Re weld metal to that of
unalloyed tungsten.
Powder products, whether unal-
loyed tungsten or tungsten alloys, have
porosity in the weld zone, particularly
along the fusion line. The amount of
porosity depends on the process his-
tory of the base metal as well as of its
composition.
As expected, the DBTT of all
grades of tungsten was greatly in-
creased by welding. Stress relief be-
fore welding reduced the cracking sus-
ceptibility of the welds and heat treat-
ments after welding appeared to im-
prove the ductility of the welds. The
DBTT for unalloyed tungsten welds
ranged from 325 to 560° C, depend-
ing on the type of base metal and
testing conditions. Use of a dissimilar
filler metal (braze weld technique)
did not improve the properties of the
resulting joint but appeared to cause
further embrittlement.
Chemical vapor deposition is a
feasible and promising process for
joining tungsten. Of all the joints
studied, those made by CVD methods
followed by a stress relief of 1000° C
had the lowest DBTT (200° C ) .
However, more development must be
done before this process can be ap-
plied.
A cknowledgements
The authors gratefully thank J. D.
Hudson for preparing, welding and
testing specimens, G. E. Moore of the
Welding and Brazing Facility, Plant
and Equipment Division, for manually
welding the bead-on-plate specimens.
We thank R. L. Heestand (now at
BMI), R. G. Donnelly, A. C.
Schaffhauser, R. E. McDonald, W. C.
Robinson (now with Union Carbide,
Greenville, S.C.) and J. I. Federer for
their invaluable assistance in material
procurement and consultation. The
work of the following groups of the
Metals and Ceramics Division is also
appreciated: the Mechanical Proper-
ties Group for testing the bend speci-
mens, the Metallography Group for
preparing the photomicrographs and
metallographic samples, and the Re-
ports Office for preparing the manu-
script.
References
1. Barth, V. D.. Physical and Mechani-
cal Properties of Tungsten-Base Alloys,
DMIC-127, pp. 6-10 (March 1960).
2. Lessman, G. G, and Gold, R. E.,
"The Weldability of Tungsten Base Al-
loys," WELDING JOURNAL, 48(12), Research
Suppl., 528-s to 542-s (1969).
3. "Vapors Create Tungsten Joints,"
Iron Age 19(21). p. 76-77 (May 1963).
4. Heestand, R. L., Federer, J. I., and
Leitten, C. F., Jr., Preparation and Evalu-
ation of Vapor Deposited Tungsten,
ORNL-3662 (August 1964).
5. Schaffhauser, A. C., "Low-Tempera-
ture Ductility and Strength of Thermo-
chemically Deposited Tungsten and Effects
of Heat Treatment," pp. 261-276, Summary
of the 11th Refractory Composites Work-
ing Group Meeting, AFML-TR-66-179 (July
1966).
6. Evaluation Test Methods for Refrac-
tory Metal Sheet Materials, Materials Ad-
visory Board Refractory Metal Sheet Roll-
ing Panel, MAB176-M (Sept. 6, 1961). Re-
vised.
7. Lundin, C. D., and Farrell, K., "Dis-
tribution and Effects of Gas Porosity in
Welds in CVD Tungsten," WELDING JOURNAL,
49(10). Research Suppl., 461-s to 464-s
(1970).
8. Schaffhauser, A. C., and Heestand,
R. L., "Effect of Fluorine Impurities on
Grain Stability of Thermochemically De-
posited Tungsten." pp. 204-211, 1966 IEEE
Conference Record of the Thermionic Con-
version Specialist Conference, Nov. 3 and
If, 1966, Houston, Texas, Institute of Elec-
trical and Electronics Engineers, New
York,
9. Farrell. K., Houston, J. T., and
Chumley, J. W., "Hot Cracking in Fusion
Welds in Tungsten," WELDING JOURNAL,
49(3), Research Suppl., 132-s to 137-s
(1970).
10. Farrell, K., Federer, J. I., Schaff-
hauser, A. C, and Robinson, W. C., Jr.,
"Gas Bubble Formation in Metal Depos-
its," pp. 263-267, Chemical Vapor Deposi-
tion 2nd Intern. Conf., ed. by J. M. Blo-
cher, Jr., and J. C. Withers, The Electro-
chemical Society, New York, 1970.
11. English, J. J., Binary and Ternary
Phase Diagrams of Columbium, Molybde-
num, Tantalum and Tungsten, DMIC-152,
p. 92 (April 28, 1961).

NEW WELDING RESEARCH COUNCIL BULLETINS

WRC BULLETIN 160: "High-Frequency Resistance Welding"
by D. C. Martin
WRC BULLETIN 161: "The Fabrication and Welding of High-Strength
Line-Pipe Steel"
by H. Thomasson
The price of either WRC Bulletin 160 or 161 is $1.50 per copy. Orders for
single copies should be sent to the American Welding Society, 345 East
47th St., New York, N.Y. 10017. Orders for bulk lots, 10 or more copies,
should be sent to the Welding Research Council, 345 East 47th St., New
York, N.Y. 10017.

426-s I S E P T E M B E R 1971