Investigation of the Young's modulus of TiB needles in situ produced in titanium matrix composite

In situ Ti/TiB composites with different volume fractions of discontinuous TiB reinforcements were produced by powder metallurgy. After compacting Ti+TiB2 powders by hot unidirectional pressure, heat treatments led to the in situ formation of distinctive needles of TiB, randomly distributed in the titanium matrix. The Young's modulus of TiB was evaluated using the ASW computation method and experimental Vickers micro-indentation. Three point bend tests were performed on Ti/TiB composites as a function of the TiB volume fraction in order to extract the Young's modulus of TiB from the elastic properties of the composite. The different values obtained according to these three methods were discussed and compared with the literature. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.