The Microstructure and Mechanical Property of 2024Al/W Materials with High W Content Fabricated by Lower-Temperature Sintering

Al-W composites are lightweight, high-strength, structural–functional integrated materials with tailorable density and excellent X/γ-ray shielding performance, making them promising candidates for nuclear and aerospace applications. In this study, high-W-content 2024Al-W composites were successfully fabricated via spark plasma sintering (SPS) at a relatively low temperature of 440–500 °C. With increasing sintering temperature, the relative density of the composites increased from 99.6% to 99.9%. A ternary intermetallic compound, Al18Mg3W2, was first detected at the Al/W interface at 460 °C. At 480 °C, submicrometre Al18Mg3W2 phases formed and cooperated with nanoscale Al2Cu precipitates, effectively enhancing interfacial bonding and optimizing mechanical properties—yielding an ultimate tensile strength of 266.9 MPa and an elongation of 6.2%. Among the strengthening mechanisms, coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) mismatch strengthening contributed the most (~19.2 MPa), followed by load transfer (~4.27 MPa) and Orowan strengthening (~1.17 MPa). These findings provide valuable insights into the low-temperature preparation of high-W-content Al-W structural–functional materials via SPS.