Microstructure and temperature-dependent tension and compression behavior of Ti-6Al-4V composites reinforced with in-situ formed TiC and Ti5Si3 particles via ball-milled SiC whisker addition
Materials Science and Engineering: A, cilt.978, 2026 (SCI-Expanded, Scopus)
- Yayın Türü: Makale / Tam Makale
- Cilt numarası: 978
- Basım Tarihi: 2026
- Doi Numarası: 10.1016/j.msea.2026.151205
- Dergi Adı: Materials Science and Engineering: A
- Derginin Tarandığı İndeksler: Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-EXPANDED), Scopus, Chemical Abstracts Core, Chimica, Compendex, INSPEC, Academic Search Ultimate (EBSCO), Engineering Source (EBSCO)
- Anahtar Kelimeler: Compression, High temperature, Hot-pressure sintering, SiC, Tension, Ti-6Al-4V, Titanium matrix composites
- Orta Doğu Teknik Üniversitesi Adresli: Evet
Özet
Titanium matrix composites were fabricated using 1, 2.5, and 5 vol% ball-milled SiC whisker (200-250 nm) and Ti-6Al-4V powder (47.9 μm) via hot-pressure sintering at 1200°C under 15 MPa pressure. The microstructural development of the composites as a function of reinforcement volume percentages and the resulting tensile and compressive mechanical properties at 25, 200, and 500°C were experimentally investigated. The reaction between SiC and Ti resulted in the formation of TiC and Ti5Si3 phases in the composites. The composites exhibited a typical α+β lamellar morphology, where increasing the SiC addition reduced the average grain size from 33 μm in the unreinforced alloy to 19 μm in the 2.5 and 5 vol% SiC composites. Two distinct microstructural pathways were identified: the 1 vol% SiC composite contained discrete TiC particles with spherical, rod, and plate-like Ti5Si3 precipitates, whereas the 2.5 and 5 vol% SiC composites featured botryoidal clusters of TiC + Ti5Si3 alongside rod- and plate-like Ti5Si3 precipitates. The brittle tensile fracture observed in the 2.5 and 5 vol% composites at room temperature was attributed to these botryoidal clusters, which also limited plastic deformation at 200 and 500°C. While the 1 vol% SiC composites demonstrated higher plastic flow stresses than the unreinforced alloy at all test temperatures, the 2.5 and 5 vol% SiC composites exhibited higher yield strengths than the unreinforced alloy only at 500°C. In contrast, the compressive strengths of all composites consistently exceeded those of the unreinforced alloy across all temperatures, with failure occurring through diagonal shear band formation. Finally, strengthening contributions were calculated using various mechanisms, showing that the analytical predictions using 0.5 and 1 μm effective particle size were in good agreement with the experimental stress increases as function of SiC volume percentages.