Effect of B4C particle size on microstructure of in situ titanium matrix composites prepared by reactive processing of Ti-B4C system

TiB clusters have been observed in the composite prepared by reactive processing using B4C powders of particle size 3.5 mu m but were not found when using finer B4C powders. After hot extrusion these clusters were reduced. The size of the B4C particles affects the microstructure and the mechanical properties of the composite directly, and the utilization of finer B4C powders of a narrow size distribution can produce finer TiB whiskers. (c) 2006 Acta Materialia Inc. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.