SISTer - Segregation induced toughening of tungsten alloys

Grain boundary engineering is a resource efficient and recycling friendly material design approach, as it aims to only modify the interface structure of a material in a structural or chemical manner. This is in strong contrast to conventional alloy development processes, where the whole bulk is chemically altered, rendering the resultant material more resource intensive, expensive, and also more challenging to recycle. In previous works, grain boundary engineering has been successfully applied to improve the room temperature properties of tungsten, a commonly brittle material to be used in extreme environments such as fusion reactors. In this present project, we aim to detail the fundamental mechanisms governing these attractive properties, as well as the influence of elevated temperatures and on the respective deformation and failure processes. This will enable novel design strategies for advanced materials targeting extreme environments.