Microstructure and compressive properties of in situ synthesized Nd2O3/Ti-6Si (wt.%) alloy composites

In situ Nd2O3/Ti-6Si (wt.%) alloy composites were synthesized utilizing the reaction from Ti, Si, Nd and SiO2 through homogeneously melting in a non-consumable vacuum arc melting furnace. The XRD results show that the composites clearly contain α-Ti, β-Ti, Ti5Si3 and the in situ synthesized Nd2O3 reinforcements. The continuous and quasi-continuous network-shape Ti5Si3 + Ti eutectic cells abundantly exist, and Nd2O3 grows from near-equiaxed shape to dendritic shape with increase of Nd content in the composites. From the investigations on compressive properties of composites, it is deduced that the significant improvement in modulus and strength can be attributed to the presence of abundant Nd2O3 in the composites.