Electron-impact single and double ionization cross sections for the W atom are calculated using a semi-relativistic distorted-wave method. The cross sections include contributions from single direct ionization, double direct ionization and excitation-autoionization. Branching ratio calculations are made to determine whether an excitation may contribute to single or double ionization. We check the accuracy of the semi-relativistic distorted-wave calculations for direct ionization of various subshells by comparison with fully-relativistic distorted-wave calculations. We also check the accuracy of the perturbative distorted-wave calculations for direct ionization of the outer most subshells by comparison with non-perturbative time-dependent close-coupling calculations.
