On the groove pressing of Ni-W alloy: microstructure, texture and mechanical properties evolution

The microstructure, texture and mechanical properties of the Ni-14%W (wt.%) alloy with two different initial grain sizes and textures were investigated after groove pressing (GP) at 450 degrees C to 4 cycles using electron back scatter diffraction (EBSD) and microhardness measurements. The first series (I) was characterized by small equiaxed grains and cube dominant texture component, whereas the second series (II) had elongated grains and beta-fiber texture. EBSD analysis has shown that GP processing led to a slight refinement (less than 15 %) of equiaxed grains in series I while greater refinement (similar to 55 %) of the mean spacing along normal direction was observed in series II. The texture did not drastically change from the initial one and was characterized by the weakening of the cube component in series I and rapid decrease of the copper component for series II. GP processing reduces the plastic anisotropy of the alloy with initial elongated granular microstructure very slightly.