Effect of Composite Composition on the Contact Angle of B_(4)C-xTiB_(2)/Cu

The wetting behavior of molten Cu on the B_(4)C-xTiB_(2)ceramic composites was investigated in this work.The results show that the contact angle of molten Cu alloy on B_(4)C-TiB_(2)ceramic composites is linear with the composition rate of TiB_(2)or B_(4)C while the temperature is in the range of 1300 to 1350℃,consistent with the expectation of the commonly used theoretical method.However,a nonlinear relationship between the contact angle and the composition rate unexpectedly occurred at temperatures ranging from 1400 to 1500℃.The big difference of the contact angles between the molten metal and the components in the composites was found to be the key point.This result identifies that the commonly used theoretical method only works at a limited difference of the contact angle of the liquid on the different phases in the composites,and fails at a big difference.

Effects of boron content on the microstructure and properties of B_(x)C-TiB_(2)(x=4.5,6.5 or 8.5)ceramic composites by the reactive spark plasma sintering

B_(x)C-TiB_(2)ceramic composites were fabricated via reactive spark plasma sintering using TiC and B as the raw materials.The impact of B/TiC mole ratios on the phase compositions,densification behaviors,microstructure,and mechanical properties of the ceramic composites were investigated.The results showed that the stoichiometry of‘B_(x)C’could be tailored by changing initial boron content and the obtained B_(4.5)C,B_(6.5)C and B_(8.5)C phases have the same crystal structure(R-3 m).The excess of B enhanced the reaction between TiC and B,which released a large amount of hot energy and promoted the densification of the composites.The TB8.5 composite sintered at 1900°C had the best comprehensive mechanical properties,with hardness and flexural strength of 40.36 GPa and 551 MPa,respectively.The formation of nano-sized TiB_(2)grains induced by reaction were beneficial for improving the mechanical properties of these composites.