Enhanced Erosion–Corrosion Resistance of Tungsten by Carburizing Using Spark Plasma Sintering Technique

The biggest obstacle for the application of tungsten as the target materials in the spallation neutron source is its serious corrosion in the coolant of flowing water. For this reason, W–Cr–C clad tungsten was developed by tungsten carburizing in a spark plasma sintering device, with superior corrosion resistance in the static immersion and electrochemical corrosion test. This work focused on its erosion and corrosion performance in a flowing water system, based upon test parameters simulated under the service conditions. W–Cr–C clad tungsten showed superior corrosion resistance to that of bare tungsten due to the corrosion form changing from the intergranular corrosion of bare tungsten to pitting corrosion of W–Cr–C coating. The corrosion rate of tungsten was as high as tenfold that of the coated sample at 20 °C, and at most fourfold at 60 °C after testing for 360 h. Effects of water velocity and temperature on pitting and intergranular corrosion were investigated in detail and their corresponding corrosion mechanisms were analyzed and discussed.