Formation of equiaxed alpha and titanium nitride precipitates in spark plasma sintered TiB/Ti-6Al-4V composites

Abstract

Spark plasma sintered TiB/Ti-6Al-4V composites have been characterized using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), electron backscattered diffraction (EBSD) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). As-SPS processed composites exhibit a more refined distribution of equiaxed alpha precipitates as compared to arc-melted composites containing similar volume fraction of TiB precipitates. Additionally. SPS processed composites also show a highly refined distribution of TiN precipitates, as revealed by TEM studies. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.