Mechanical Properties and Sintering of Nanostructured Ti-TiC Composites

Ti nanopowder was prepared by high energy ball milling. The milled Ti and CNT powders were then simultaneously synthesized and consolidated using high frequency induction heated sintering (HFIHS) within one minute under applied pressure of 80 MPa. The milling did not induce any reaction between the constituent powders. Meanwhile, HFIHS of the Ti-CNT mixture produced a Ti-TiC composite according to the reaction (0.94Ti + 0.06CNT -> 0.88Ti + 0.06TiC, 0.88Ti + 0.12CNT -> 0.76Ti + 0.12TiC) Highly dense nanocrystalline Ti-TiC composites with a relative density of up to 99.5 % were obtained The hardness and the fracture toughness of the dense Ti-6.4 mole% TiC and Ti-13.6 mole% TIC produced by HFIHS were also investigated.