Xiang-Bo Shen

Microstructure characteristics and mechanical properties of TiB/Ti-1.5Fe-2.25Mo composites synthesized in situ using SPS process

Abstract TiB/Ti-1.5Fe-2.25Mo composites were synthesized in situ using the spark plasma sintering (SPS) method at temperatures of 850-1150 °C. The effect of the sintering temperature on microstructure and mechanical properties of the composites was investigated. The results indicate that the aspect ratio of the in situ synthesized TiB whiskers in Ti alloy matrix decreases rapidly with an increase in sintering temperature. However, both the relative density of the sintered specimens and the volume content of TiB whiskers in composites increase with increasing sintering temperature. Thus, the bending strength of the composites synthesized using SPS process increases slowly with increasing the sintering temperature from 850 to 1150 °C. TiB/Ti-1.5Fe-2.25Mo composite synthesized at 1150 °C using SPS method exhibits the highest bending strength of 1596 MPa due to the formation of fine TiB whiskers in Ti alloy matrix and the dense microstructure of the composite.

Effect of Si content on microstructure and properties of Si/Al composites

Abstract Si/Al composites with different Si contents for electronic packaging were prepared by spark plasma sintering (SPS) technique. Properties of the composites were investigated, including density, thermal conductivity, coefficient of thermal expansion and flexural strength. The effects of the Si content on microstructure and thermal and mechanical properties of the composites were studied. The results show that the Si/Al composites consist of Si and Al components and Al uniformly distributes among Si grains. The relative density of the Si/Al composites gradually increases with the decrease of Si content and reaches 98.0% when the Si content is 50%. The thermal conductivity, the coefficient of thermal expansion and the flexural strength of the composite all decrease with the increase of the Si content, and an optimal matching of them is obtained when the Si content is 60% (volume fraction).