Abstract
Composites of commercial-purity Ti reinforced with 10 vol pct of SiC particles have been produced by cospraying and by powder blending and extrusion. Interfacial reaction layers have been studied by electron and optical microscopy and by Auger electron spectroscopy (AES) of fracture surfaces. The work of fracture has been measured as a function of reaction layer thickness for extruded and heat-treated composites. Material with very thin reaction layers (<∼0.1 μn) can be produced by cospraying, but porosity levels are relatively high (∼5 to 10 pct). Extruded material has been produced with a thin reaction layer (∼0.2 μm) and low porosity (<1 pct). It appears that the rate of reaction conforms with published parabolic rate constant data over a wide range of time and temperature. The reaction layer always consists of TiC and Ti5Si3, but the TiC grains tend to be larger than those of Ti5Si3. As the reaction layer thickness becomes greater than about 1 μm, the work of fracture falls sharply and the cracking pattern changes from one involving fracture of SiC particles to one in which cracking between the particles and adjacent reaction zones becomes predominant. It is suggested that the volume contraction accompanying this reaction, calculated at about 4.6 pct from density data, has a significant effect in promoting crack formation in these locations by generating radial tensile stresses across the interface. Thus, for this particular composite system, the important effect of a thicker reaction layer may be that it promotes the formation of an interfacial crackvia an effect on the local stress state, rather than itself constituting a larger flaw in the form of a through-thickness crack assumed to be present.
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Reeves, A.J., Dunlop, H. & Clyne, T.W. The effect of interfacial reaction layer thickness on fracture of titanium-SiC particulate composites. Metall Trans A 23, 977–988 (1992). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02675572
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02675572