Spark plasma sintering and deformation of Ti–TiB2 composites

Spark plasma sintering (SPS) was used to investigate the densification and deformation behaviour of Ti–TiB2 composites. Fully densified samples were prepared with Ti addition larger than 5%. The prepared composites can be deformed under compression at 1700 °C to achieve a strain of 50% without cracking. At lower temperatures, cracks were initiated due to low ductility of TiB2 and low content of Ti. During the sintering and deformation, TiB is formed via a reaction between Ti and TiB2. To elucidate the formation mechanism of TiB in the SPS process, reactive sintering of TiB using element precursors was also performed. Fully dense samples were prepared but it was not possible to prepare pure uniphase TiB. The reactive sintering resulted in the formation of TiB and TiB2 mixtures at low temperatures and a mixture of TiB2 and Ti3B4 at high temperature.