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Effect of TiB2 content on microstructure and properties of in situ Ti-TiB composites

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Abstract

This study determined the optimal concentration of titanium diboride (TiB2) particles for the development of in situ titanium–titanium boride (Ti–TiB) metal matrix composites (MMCs) prepared by a conventional powder metallurgy route to be used for industrial applications. The effect of concentration of TiB2 particles was studied by reinforcing TiB2 powder in different mass fractions (2wt%, 5wt%, 10wt%, and 20wt%) into pure Ti powder during the fabrication process. The MMCs were sintered at high temperatures under vacuum. The transmission electron microscopy (TEM) results revealed the formation of needle-shaped TiB whiskers, indicating that in situ reaction occurred during vacuum sintering of the powder compacts. All the composite samples had a high sintered density, and the hardness of the composites increased with an increase in the mass fraction of reinforcement. Mechanical and tribological properties such as flexural strength, impact, and wear properties were determined and found to be dependent on the mass fraction of the reinforcement. However, the mechanism for the in situ reaction needs further investigation by high-energy in situ X-ray diffraction techniques.

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Acknowledgements

The first author would like to thank the University of Auckland for providing a doctoral scholarship. The author would like to thank Prof. A.W.H. Ngan for providing an opportunity to work at the University of Hong Kong, China. The author also acknowledges the Electron Microscope Unit (EMU) of the University of Hong Kong, China. This work was partially supported by the Titanium Technologies New Zealand (TiTeNZ) Programme funded by the Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment (MBIE), New Zealand.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Chemical and Materials Engineering, University of Auckland, Private Bag 92019, Auckland, 1142, New Zealand

    Harshpreet Singh, Muhammad Hayat, Hongzhou Zhang & Peng Cao

  2. Sir Lawrence Wackett Aerospace Research Centre, School of Engineering, RMIT University, GPO Box 2476, Melbourne, VIC, Australia

    Raj Das

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  1. Harshpreet Singh
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  2. Muhammad Hayat
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  3. Hongzhou Zhang
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  4. Raj Das
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  5. Peng Cao
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Correspondence to Muhammad Hayat or Peng Cao.

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Singh, H., Hayat, M., Zhang, H. et al. Effect of TiB2 content on microstructure and properties of in situ Ti-TiB composites. Int J Miner Metall Mater 26, 915–924 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12613-019-1797-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12613-019-1797-6

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