Structure and Properties of Al – ZrW₂O₈ Pseudo Alloys

Al – ZrW₂O₈ powder mixture was sintered to obtain alloys were Al – ZrW₂O₈ pseudo alloys. The structure formation process of the pseudo alloys obtained was investigated. During sintering process zirconium tungstate was found to decompose into constituent oxides with consequent formation of WAl₁₂ and ZrAl₃ intermetallic compounds. Increasing the sintering time up to 5 hours leads to re-synthesis of the zirconium tungstate represented with elongated particles - microfibers. The formation of internal stresses in the material was shown using XRD and Williamson-Hall analyses. The value of internal compression stresses was estimated to be 90 MPa. Vickers hardness of the pseudo alloys obtained increases by two times with increasing sintering time from 1h to 5h.