Microstructure, consolidation and mechanical behaviour of Mg/n-TiC composite

In this work, the microstructure, consolidation and mechanical properties of pure magnesium, magnesium based composite containing with different fractions (5, 10, 15 wt%) of Titanium carbide nanoparticles (n-TiC) were fabricated via powder metallurgy technique. The fabricated composites exhibited homogeneous distribution of TiC with little porosity. Microstructure of the composite and powders was studied using X-ray diffraction, Scanning electron microscope, and Transmission electron microscope. Microstructural characterization of the materials exposed that the accumulation of nanosized titanium carbide reinforcement enhanced the homogenization during mechanical blending. The relative density, compressibility, green compressive strength, sinterability and hardness of the nanocomposites were also examined. The effect of reinforcement on the densification was studied and reported in terms of the relative density and consolidation behaviour of the Magnesium matrix with n-TiC was studied and best compacted fit obtained through the Heckel, Panelli Ambrosio Filho and Ge equations. The compressive strength of the composite significantly increases from 230 MPa to 389 MPa with content of n-TiC and sintering temperature. Experiments have been performed under different conditions of temperature, n-TiC Content, and compacting pressure.