Wear and corrosion studies of graphite‐aluminum composite reinforced with micro/nano‐TiB₂ via spark plasma sintering

Abstract

The demand for lightweight materials in the automobile and aerospace industries has led to various researches on graphite and graphite‐aluminum composites. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of the addition of micron/nano TiB2 particles on the properties of graphite‐aluminum composite particularly the wear resistance. The powders were sintered at 550 °C and 50 MPa with more attention on the effect of the sintering temperature on densification, microhardness, coefficient of thermal expansion, wear and frictional force. The results show that the addition of nano TiB2 reduces the densification while improving the hardness of Gr−Al composite with the lowest value being 96.0 % of relative density and the highest microhardness of 43.58 HV 0.1. The coefficient of thermal expansion and frictional force of the composite materials increases with increasing TiB2 content and heating rate (100 °C/min–150 °C/min). TiB2 particles enhance the wear resistance of graphite‐aluminum composite. The addition of micro/nanoparticles of TiB2 to graphite‐aluminum composite increases its corrosion rate with improved passivation behavior in 3.5 wt.% NaCl solution. Nevertheless, 5 wt.% nano (100 °C/min) TiB2 additions do not affect the overall corrosion rate. This work has shown that we can take advantage of some of the properties of TiB2 to improve the performance of graphite‐aluminum composite.

Effect of sintering temperatures on the properties of in-situ copper-niobium-titanium di-boride composites

“…Other researchers had confirmed that the higher the reinforcement content, the higher the probability of clusters Research Article SN Applied Sciences (2020) 2:2109 | https://doi.org/10.1007/s42452-020-03960-z and particle defects and consequently, the reduction in the composite densification and hence, in its density [8,27].…”

“…However, the extinction of the peaks in this study, which are responsible for the proper densifications, according to the work of Diouf and Molinari [25], could be attributed to the presence of dissolved oxygen in the samples, as can be seen in the SEM and EDS images (Figs. 5,6,7,8,9,10). The presence of oxygen in the sintering samples, during the spark plasma sintering process, hinders the densification mechanism [26].…”

“…The precipitation of Nb and TiB 2 at the sintered temperature of 700 °C might have formed closely parked particles that could hinder dislocations. Thus, the Orowan strengthening, caused by the resistance of the closely parked hard particles to the passing of dislocations, is widely acknowledged as the strengthening mechanism in metal matrix micro/nanocomposite [8,17]. Figure 11 shows the CTE of the sintered sample (CuNbTiB 2 ) at two different temperatures of 650 °C and 700 °C.…”

“…On the other hand, there has been great interest in the production of composites with titanium-diboride, as reinforcing phase. Titanium-diboride has excellent mechanical properties, which when added to a matrix, enhances the overall performance of the resulting composites [7,8]. Titanium-diboride is a ceramic material and its excellent mechanical and good conductive properties, predetermine its potential use in various high-temperature applications, especially those including highly corrosive molten salts [9].…”

Corrosion behavior of mechanically alloyed A6005 aluminum alloy composite reinforced with TiB2 nanoparticles

“…This combination of high specific properties makes AMCs interesting for structural elements in the transport industry . Moreover, ceramic particles commonly employed as reinforcement such as silicon carbide (SiC) or titanium diboride (TiB 2 ) present high strength, stiffness, and excellent fatigue and wear resistance . These mechanical properties can also be improved by a decrease of reinforcement size, from micrometric to nanometric size .…”