Sintering of TiB2-TiN nano- and micropowders
Piotr Wyżga, Lucyna Jaworska, Mirosław Bućko, Piotr Putyra, Andrzej Kalinka
Quarterly No. 1, 2011 pages 34-38
DOI:
keywords: composites, nanopowders, Spark Plasma Sintering, HP-HT method, grain growth, phase composi-tion, porosity
abstract The TiN-TiB2 ceramic composite (CC) could be attractive for applications in jet engine parts, armour plates, cutting tools and dies as well as high performance electrical systems. Because of the high melting points of TiB2-TiN, consolidation of these powders requires extremely high temperatures and long duration of the sintering process for conventional sintering methods. The main causes of this problem are strong covalent bonding, a low self-diffusion coefficient and the existence of an oxygen rich surface layer on the particle surface. The compaction and sintering of nanocrystalline powders are accompanied by intensive growth of particles. The Spark Plasma Sintering (SPS) process and High Pressure-High Temperature (HP-HT) method of sintering have been applied to the formation of composites consisting of TiB2 and TiN nano- and micropowders. Commercial TiB2-TiN nanopowders, obtained using Self Propagating High Temperature Synthesis (SHS) were used for the studies. The influence of the method of sintering on the densification, grain growth, microstructure, some physical and mechanical properties of TiN-TiB2 ceramic composites were investigated. Microstructural observations revealed that both TiN and TiB2 crystal grains had micrometer sizes in the composites obtained from nanopowders for both SPS and HP-HT methods of sintering. In the materials obtained using the HP-HT method of sintering, there are numerous cracks in the compact and stresses build up during the high pressure sintering process. The TiB2-TiN material obtained utilizing the HP-HT method from nanopowders is characterized by lower porosity. In XRD experiments, TiB2, TiN and hBN phases were detected. TiB2- TiN commercial SHS nanopowders are more reactive than the mixture of TiB2 and TiN micropowders. For the composites prepared from nanopowders there is about 14% of hBN content. The amount of hBN in the composites for micropowder sintering using the SPS method is about 1.3%.