Highly textured and strongly anisotropic TiB2 ceramics prepared using magnetic field alignment (9T)

Highly textured TiB2 ceramics were prepared by slip casting an aqueous suspension in a magnetic field of 9 T, followed by sintering using Field Assisted Sintering Technology (FAST). Particle size refinement by ball milling improved both the degree of texturing and densification of the material (RD > 98 %). The sintered material exhibited a Lotgering orientation factor of 0.90, with the c-axis of TiB2 oriented parallel to the magnetic field and FAST pressing direction. The texturing effect induced by the uniaxial pressing was negligible. The textured TiB2 material exhibited a significant anisotropy in mechanical properties; the values of hardness and indentation elastic modulus measured along directions transverse to the c-axis of TiB2 were 37 % and 13 % higher than the ones measured along the c-axis direction. Moreover, the specific wear rate of a surface of textured TiB2 parallel to the field was one order of magnitude lower than a surface perpendicular to the field.