This research produced a porous Fe-8 wt.% Cu alloy by microwave sintering in order to achieve (i) an increased biodegradation rate, and (ii) an antibacterial function. The Fe-8Cu alloy had higher density, hardness and degradation rate (about 2 times higher) but smaller and fewer surface pores, compared to the pure Fe. The Fe-8Cu alloy had a strong antibacterial function (the antibacterial rates against E. coli were up to 99.9%) and good biocompatibility. This work provides a novel approach of alloy design and processing to develop novel antibacterial Fe-based alloys.

A non-equiatomic refractory high entropy alloy (RHEA), (W₃₅Ta₃₅Mo₁₅Nb₁₅)₉₅Ni₅ with high density of 14.55 g/cm³ was fabricated by powder metallurgical process of mechanical alloying (MA) and spark plasma sintering (SPS). The mechanical alloying behavior of the metallic powders was studied systematically, and the microstructure and phase composition for both the powders and alloys were analyzed. Results show that the crystal consists of the primary solid solution and marginal oxide inclusion (Nb_5.7Ni₄Ta_2.3O₂). In addition, the maximum strength, yield strength and fracture strain are, 2562 MPa, 2128 MPa, 8.16%, respectively.

Porous NiTi alloys were manufactured by integration of gel-casting and microwave sintering. The effects of sintering temperature on porosity, compressive strength, pore morphology and phase composition of sintered samples were researched. The results show that the porosity and the mean pore diameter of porous NiTi alloys decrease with increasing sintering temperature, whereas the content of the NiTi phase, the elastic modulus and compressive strength of sintered samples increase. When the gel body with the solid loading of 50 vol.% is microwave sintered at 1000 °C for 30 min, porous NiTi alloys are obtained with the porosity of 38.9%, the compressive strength of 254 MPa, elastic modulus of 4 GPa, and predominant phase of NiTi. The results suggest that the method is suitable for rapid preparation of large-size and complex-shape personalized products similar to human bones at a low cost.

Tungsten-nickel-manganese alloy is an excellent potential replacement of depleted uranium alloy for kinetic energy penetrator (KEP) due to its high self-sharpening effect. In this work, the 90W-4Ni-6Mn alloy was prepared by vacuum sintering, and the effects of the sintering temperature and oxygen content on its microstructure and properties were discussed. Sintering temperature had a great influence on the properties of tungsten heavy alloy. The optimal properties of 90W-4Ni-6Mn with the relative density of 99.43%, the W grain size of 3.80 μm, and the compressive strength of 2790 MPa were obtained at the sintering temperature of 1125 °C for 60 min under a vacuum of 10⁻²∼10⁻³ Pa. With the increase of oxygen content, the densification of powders became more difficult, and the microstructure homogeneity and mechanical properties of sintered samples decreased accordingly. The results provide a new effective way to prepare W–Ni–Mn alloy with high performance.