Microstructure and Mechanical Properties of Dual Scaled NbC/Ti2AlC Reinforced Titanium-Aluminum Composite

Sen Cui; Chunxiang Cui; Xin Wang

doi:10.3390/ma16134661

Microstructure and Mechanical Properties of Dual Scaled NbC/Ti₂AlC Reinforced Titanium-Aluminum Composite

Materials (Basel). 2023 Jun 28;16(13):4661. doi: 10.3390/ma16134661.

Authors

Sen Cui^{1

2}, Chunxiang Cui², Xin Wang²

Affiliations

¹ School of Materials Science and Engineering, Shijiazhuang Tiedao University, Shijiazhuang 050043, China.
² School of Materials Science and Engineering, Hebei University of Technology, Tianjin 300401, China.

Abstract

A TiAl composite containing hybrid particles and whisker reinforcements is fabricated by vacuum melting. The results of this study show that the comprehensive mechanical properties and refining effect of the material are best when the content of reinforcement is 1 wt.%, and then the mechanical properties begin to deteriorate as the content increases further. Finely dispersed NbC particles and uniformly dispersed Ti₂AlC whiskers are the ideal second phases. The synergistic strengthening effect of NbC particles and in situ Ti₂AlC whiskers are key to the improvement of mechanical properties. Compared with the TiAlNb matrix, the fracture stress/strain of the composite at 1073 K is improved from 612 MPa/19.4% to 836 MPa/26.6%; the fracture toughness at room temperature is improved from 18.8 MPa/m² to 27.4 MPa/m².

Keywords: TiAl; metal matrix composite; strengthening.

Grants and funding

This work is supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China, grant number 51871087. Natural Science Foundation of Hebei Province, China (No. E2021202140). Innovation Fund for Outstanding Youth (EERI_OY2022009), “S&T Program of Hebei” (225676163GH).