Producing Ti-6Al-4V/TiC composite with good ductility by vacuum induction melting furnace and hot rolling process

In this paper, Ti-6Al-4V/TiC composite was fabricated by VIM furnace and graphite crucible. X-ray diffraction analysis and EDS techniques were used to identify the phases in the material. Microstructure characteristics of the Ti-6Al-4V/TiC composite were evaluated by means of optical microscopy. The tensile test was performed at room temperature after hot-rolling of the samples in the beta phase field. The results revealed that at different melting times, three kinds of precipitates are formed in the microstructure including grain boundary, eutectic and transgranular precipitates. The size of transgranular precipitates was significantly larger than that of the other two types of carbides and had the worst effect on ductility. Furthermore, an increase in the amount of carbon by increasing the melting time led to an increase in hardness and strength and decrease in ductility. Finally, TiC/Ti-6Al-4V with high strength (similar to 1200 MPa) and good ductility (10% elongation and 15% reduction in area) was produced in VIM furnace using 0.5 min melting time. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.