Reactive sintering cBN-Ti-Al composites by spark plasma sintering

When synthesizing polycrystalline cubic boron nitride (PcBN) at normal pressure, cBN had a trend of hexagonal transformation, which reduces the hardness and strength of PcBN. The cBN-Ti-Al composite was prepared by spark plasma sintering with introducing Ti and Al to absorb hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) transformed from cBN. By the results of X-ray diffraction (XRD), Ti and Al reacted with BN and forming TiN, TiB2, and AlN, which combined cBN as the binder by chemical bonding. The mechanical properties of the prepared composite increased as the increment of sintering temperature. The threshold temperature for preparing composite without hBN phase was at 1400 degrees C The composite with optimal mechanical properties was prepared at 1400 degrees C, and the relative density, the bending strength, hardness, and fracture toughness were 98.9 +/- 0.1%, 390.7 +/- 4.4 MPa, 14.1 +/- 0.5 GPa, and 7.6 +/- 0.1 MPa.m(05), respectively. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.