Characterization of ceramic reinforced titanium matrix composites fabricated by spark plasma sintering for anti-ballistic applications

Abstract

Titanium has found extensive use in various engineering applications due to its attractive physical, mechanical, and chemical characteristics. However, titanium has relatively low hardness for use as an armour material. ZrB2 was incorporated to the Ti matrix to form a Ti-based binary composites. In this study, powder metallurgy techniques were employed to disperse the ceramic particulates throughout the matrix material then consolidated through spark plasma sintering. The composites were densified at 1300 °C, pressure of 50 MPa, and holding time of 5 min. The microstructure and phase analysis of the sintered composites was carried out using SEM and XRD, while the hardness was determined using Vickers' microhardness tester. The SEM and XRD results confirmed the presence of the TiB whiskers which renowned with the improving the hardness of titanium. The hardness of the composite with 10 wt% ZrB2 showed the highest hardness compared to that obtained for the 5 and 15 wt% ZrB2 composites which was 495 and 571Hv respectively. Keywords: SPS, TiB whiskers, Hardness, Titanium matrix composites, Reinforcement