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In-situ fabricated TiB2 particle-whisker synergistically toughened Ti(C, N)-based ceramic cutting tool material

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Abstract

The mechanical properties of ceramic cutting tool materials can be modified by introducing proper content of nanoparticles or whiskers. However, the process of adding whiskers or nanoparticles has the disadvantages of high cost and health hazard as well as the agglomeration; although a new in-situ two-step sintering process can solve the above problems to some extent, yet the problems of low conversion ratio of the raw materials and the abnormal grain growth exist in this process. In this paper, an in-situ one-step synthesis technology is proposed, which means the growth of whiskers or nanoparticles and the sintering of the compact can be accomplished by one time in furnace. A kind of Ti(C, N)-based ceramic cutting tool material synergistically toughened by TiB2 particles and whiskers is fabricated with this new process. The phase compositions, relationships between microstructure and mechanical properties as well as the toughening mechanisms are analyzed by means of X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The composite which is sintered under a pressure of 32 MPa at a temperature of 1700°C in vacuum holding for 60 min can get the optimal mechanical properties. Its flexural strength, fracture toughness and Vickers hardness are 540 MPa, 7.81 MPa · m1/2 and 20.42 GPa, respectively. The composite has relatively high density, and the in-situ synthesized TiB2 whiskers have good surface integrity, which is beneficial for the improvement of the fracture toughness. It is concluded that the main toughening mechanisms of the present composite are whiskers pulling-out and crack deflection induced by whiskers, crack bridging by whiskers/particles and multi-scale particles synergistically toughening. This study proposes an in-situ one-step synthesis technology which can be well used for fabricating particles and whiskers synergistically toughened ceramic tool materials.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Mechanical Engineering, Shandong University, Jinan, 250061, China

    Hanlian Liu, Qiang Shi, Chuanzhen Huang, Bin Zou, Liang Xu & Jun Wang

  2. Key Laboratory of High-efficiency and Clean Mechanical Manufacture (Shandong University), Ministry of Education, Jinan, 250061, China

    Hanlian Liu, Qiang Shi, Chuanzhen Huang, Bin Zou, Liang Xu & Jun Wang

Authors
  1. Hanlian Liu
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  2. Qiang Shi
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  3. Chuanzhen Huang
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  4. Bin Zou
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  5. Liang Xu
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  6. Jun Wang
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Hanlian Liu.

Additional information

Supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China(Grant No. 51175305), Key Special Project of Numerical Control Machine Tool of China(Grant No. 2012ZX04003-051), and China Postdoctoral Science Special Foundation(Grant No. 2012T50610)

LIU Hanlian, born in 1970, is currently a professor at Shandong University, China. She received her PhD degree from Shandong University, China, in 2005. Her research interests include new kind ceramic tools, structural ceramics, and machining techniques with high efficiency and high quality, and so on.

SHI Qiang, born in 1986, is currently an engineer in Taian Dongyue Heavy Industry Co., Ltd, China. He received his master degree from Shandong University, China, in 2012

HUANG Chuanzhen, is currently a professor at Shandong University, China. He received his PhD degree from Shandong University of Technology, China. His research interests include ceramic tool materials, precision machining and machining reliability, etc.

ZOU Bin, born in 1978, is currently an associate professor at Shandong University, China. He received his PhD degree from Shandong University, China, in 2006. His research interests include the advanced manufacturing technology, the machining techniques with high efficiency and high quality, and so on.

XU Liang, born in 1984, is currently an engineer at Aerospace Research Institute of Materials & Processing Technology, China. He received his PhD degree from Shandong University, China, in 2013. His research interests include machining techniques with high quality and low damage, ceramic tools and fiber reinforced materials.

WANG Jun, born in 1960, is currently a professor at University of New South Wales, Australia with a conjoint appointment in Shandong University, China and several other universities. He obtained his PhD degree from University of Melbourne, Australia, in 1993. His main research interest is in advanced manufacturing technologies, in particular, traditional and non-traditional material removal processes.

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Liu, H., Shi, Q., Huang, C. et al. In-situ fabricated TiB2 particle-whisker synergistically toughened Ti(C, N)-based ceramic cutting tool material. Chin. J. Mech. Eng. 28, 338–342 (2015). https://doi.org/10.3901/CJME.2015.0107.008

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.3901/CJME.2015.0107.008

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