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High-Hardness High-Fracture-Toughness B4C-TiB2 Composite Produced by Reactive Hot Pressing

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Abstract

B4C-TiB2 composite was synthesized by in situ reaction of TiO2, C, and B4C during vacuum hot pressing. The composition of the composite was varied from 0 to 20 vol.% TiB2. The reaction step was controlled to produce homogenous distribution of TiB2 in B4C matrix with ~ 100% density. The hardness, bending strength, and fracture toughness of B4C monolith and B4C-TiB2 composite were evaluated. B4C-TiB2 composite with 20 vol.% TiB2 content showed 39.4 GPa hardness, 800 MPa bending strength, and 9.8 MPa.m1/2 fracture toughness. The increase in hardness, bending strength, and fracture toughness in B4C-TiB2 composite sample was 29, 56, and 292%, respectively, as compared to B4C monolith. Improvement in hardness and bending strength is attributed to the smaller grain size, i.e., 1.3 µm. The increase in fracture toughness is due to the presence of free carbon at the B4C-TiB2 interface, which creates micro-cracks at the interfacial boundary.

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Data Availability

The datasets generated during and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank the Head of Department, Process Engineering Group and Powder Synthesis and Processing Group PINSTECH Islamabad, for permitting us to utilize their resources for this work. The authors also feel indebted to the Materials Division, National Institute of Laser and Optics, Islamabad, for their generous support in microstructural characterization.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Materials Division, Pakistan Institute of Nuclear Science and Technology, P. O. Nilore, Islamabad, Pakistan

    Zahid Asghar, Taha Aziz, Abdul Rehman Khan, Hassan Waqas, H. Tanveer Rasul & M. Fayaz Khan

  2. National Institute of Laser and Optics, Islamabad, Pakistan

    Attaullah Shah

  3. DMME, Pakistan Institute of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Islamabad, Pakistan

    Fahad Ali

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  1. Zahid Asghar
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  2. Taha Aziz
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Correspondence to Taha Aziz.

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Asghar, Z., Aziz, T., Khan, A.R. et al. High-Hardness High-Fracture-Toughness B4C-TiB2 Composite Produced by Reactive Hot Pressing. J. of Materi Eng and Perform 32, 7225–7233 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11665-022-07660-0

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