A sintered body of TiB2-reinforced iron matrix composite (Fe-TiB2) is fabricated by pressureless-sintering of a mixture of titanium hydride (TiH2) and iron boride (FeB) powders. The powder mixture is prepared in a planetary ball-mill at 700 rpm for 3 h and then pressurelessly sintered at 1300, 1350 and 1400°C for 0-2 h. The optimal sintering temperature for high densities (above 95% relative density) is between 1350 and 1400°C, where the holding time can be varied from 0.25 to 2 h. A maximum relative density of 96.0% is obtained from the (FeB+TiH2) powder compacts sintered at 1400°C for 2 h. Sintered compacts have two main phases of Fe and TiB2 along with traces of TiB, which seems to be formed through the reaction of TiB2 formed at lower temperatures during the heating stage with the excess Ti that is intentionally added to complete the reaction for TiB2 formation. Nearly fully densified sintered compacts show a homogeneous microstructure composed of fine TiB2 particulates with submicron sizes and an Fe-matrix. A maximum hardness of 71.2 HRC is obtained from the specimen sintered at 1400°C for 0.5 h, which is nearly equivalent to the HRC of conventional WC-Co hardmetals containing 20 wt% Co.
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Fe-30 wt% TiC composite powders are fabricated by in situ reaction synthesis after planetary ball milling of (Fe, TiH2, Carbon) powder mixture. Two sintering methods of a pressureless sintering and a spark-plasma sintering are tested to densify the Fe-30 wt% TiC composite powder compacts. Pressureless sintering is performed at 1100, 1200 and 1300°C for 1-3 hours in a tube furnace under flowing argon gas atmosphere. Spark-plasma sintering is carried out under the following condition: sintering temperature of 1050°C, soaking time of 10 min, sintering pressure of 50 MPa, heating rate of 50°C/min, and in a vacuum of 0.1 Pa. The curves of shrinkage and its derivative (shrinkage rate) are obtained from the data stored automatically during sintering process. The densification behaviors are investigated from the observation of fracture surface and cross-section of the sintered compacts. The pressureless-sintered powder compacts are not densified even after sintering at 1300°C for 3 h, which shows a relative denstiy of 66.9%. Spark-plasma sintering at 1050°C for 10 min exhibits nearly full densification of 99.6% relative density under the sintering pressure of 50 MPa.
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Two sintering methods of a pressureless sintering and a spark-plasma sintering are tested to densify the Fe- TiC composite powders which are fabricated by high-energy ball-milling. A powder mixture of Fe and TiC is prepared in a planetary ball mill at a rotation speed of 500 rpm for 1h. Pressureless sintering is performed at 1100, 1200 and 1300°C for 1-3 hours in a tube furnace under flowing argon gas atmosphere. Spark-plasma sintering is carried out under the following condition: sintering temperature of 1050°C, soaking time of 10 min, sintering pressure of 50 MPa, heating rate of 50°C, and in a vacuum of 0.1 Pa. The curves of shrinkage and its derivative (shrinkage rate) are obtained from the data stored automatically during sintering process. The densification behaviors are investigated from the observation of fracture surface and cross-section of the sintered compacts. The pressureless-sintered powder compacts show incomplete densification with a relative denstiy of 86.1% after sintering at 1300°C for 3h. Spark-plasma sintering at 1050°C for 10 min exhibits nearly complete densification of 98.6% relative density under the sintering pressure of 50 MPa.
Citations
Fe-TiC composite powders are fabricated by planetary ball mill processing. Two kinds of powder mixtures are prepared from the starting materials of (a) (Fe, TiC) powders and (b) (Fe, TiH2, Carbon) powders. Milling speed (300, 500 and 700 rpm) and time (1, 2, and 3 h) are varied. For (Fe, TiH2, Carbon) powders, an
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