Microstructure-mechanical properties correlation in spark plasma sintered Ti-4.8 wt.% TiB2 composites

Ti-TiB2 composites were fabricated from powder mixtures via spark plasma sintering method. Mechanical behavior of the sintered composites were then investigated via both routine and nanoindentation methods. Results indicated a significant increase in ultimate tensile strength and hardness of the composite, when the sintering temperature is raised. Besides common increase in the relative density of the composite, such a behavior was also attributed to the higher amounts of in-situ formed TiB whiskers. The remarkable reduction in bending strength is probably due to limited formability of unreacted coarse TiB2 particles and agglomerated in-situ formed phases. Such findings were then discussed in detail, based on the nanomechanical behavior of the primary and in-situ formed phases in Ti-TiB2 composite sintered at 1200 degrees C. It was concluded that the superiority of mechanical properties in the mentioned sample may be due to high strength primary and in-situ formed reinforcements distributed homogenously in the matrix. Such reinforcement also provided high strength interfaces, according to interfacial nanoindentation approaches.