10.1007/s40964-026-01722-8">
 

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

5-12-2026

Abstract

Although additive manufacturing presents a novel and customizable approach to fabricating tungsten (W) alloys, the layer-by-layer production technique presents a unique set of processing challenges which are further exacerbated by the metal’s refractory properties. In this study, additions of niobium (Nb) were found to improve the mechanical properties and oxidation resistance of additively manufactured W. Microstructural investigation revealed the effect of Nb on the cracking, grain size, and texture in the as-built material. Mechanical compression testing showed significant improvement in ductility with increasing Nb content. The low concentrations of Nb used did not induce large changes in the yield strength of the material. The work shows that Nb may be a useful alloying element for improving additive manufacturing of W.

Comments

© 2026 The Authors. 

This article is published by Springer, licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0), which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made.

Status note: This article was published online in May 2026 as an article of the journal, Progress in Additive Manufacturing, ahead of inclusion in a future volume of that serial.  The citation below will be updated once that occurs.

Funding notes: Open Access funding provided by Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) Technical Libraries Consortia. This research was supported by the Materials and Manufacturing and Aerospace Systems directorates of the Air Force Research Laboratories.

Source Publication

Progress in Additive Manufacturing (ISSN 2363-9512 | eISSN ISSN: 2363-9520)

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