The wear properties of Ti-based bulk metallic glass composites containing carbon particles

This paper reports the preparation and wear behavior of mechanically alloyed Ti-based bulk metallic glass composites containing carbon particles. The carbon/Ti50Cu28Ni15Sn7 metallic glass composite powders are formed by two-stage mechanical alloying (MA) process. The bulk metallic glass composite was successfully prepared by vacuum hot pressing of as-milled carbon/Ti50Cu28Ni15Sn7 metallic glass composite powders. The differential scanning calorimeter (DSC) results show that the thermal stability of the amorphous matrix is affected by the presence of the carbon particles. Changes in Tg and Tx suggest deviations in the chemical composition of the amorphous matrix that were developed due to a partial dissolution of the carbon species into the amorphous phase. Although the hardness of carbon/Ti50Cu28Ni15Sn7 bulk metallic glass composite is increased with carbon addition, but their wear resistances is not directly proportional to hardness and does not follow the standard wear law. The increase in the wear rate of a carbon/Ti50Cu28Ni15Sn7 bulk metallic glass composite with high carbon content may be attributed to the residual porosity and in-situ formed hard TiC particles formed in situ in the matrix of the composite.