Microstructure and mechanical properties of in situ TiB2/7055 composites synthesized by direct magnetochemistry melt reaction

In situ TiB2/7055 composites were successfully synthesized via magnetic chemical direct melt reaction from 7055 (Al-3B)-Ti system. The phase composition and the microstructure of the composites were investigated by XRD, OM and SEM technologies, and the mechanical and wear properties were tested. The results indicate that with the pulsed magnetic field assistance, the morphologies of in situ TiB2 particles are mainly hexagonal-shape or nearly spherical, the sizes are less than 1 μm, and the distribution of the matrix is uniform. Compared the microstructures of the 7055 aluminum matrix composites synthesized without pulsed magnetic field, the average size of α(Al) phase with pulsed magnetic field assistance is decreased from 20 to 10 μm, the array of the second phase is changed from continuous net-shape to discontinuous shape. With the pulsed magnetic field, the tensile strengths of the composites are enhanced from 310 to 330 MPa, and the elongations are increased from 7.5% to 8.0%. In addition, compared with matrix alloy, the wear mass loss of the composites is decreased from 111 to 78 mg under a load of 100 N for 120 min.