Reconstruction of 3D Morphology of TiB2 in In Situ Fe Matrix Composites

doi:10.11900/0412.1961.2018.00297

Acta Metall Sin

2019, Vol. 55

Issue (1): 133-140 DOI: 10.11900/0412.1961.2018.00297

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Reconstruction of 3D Morphology of TiB₂ in In Situ Fe Matrix Composites

Baogang WANG¹, Hongliang YI¹(

), Guodong WANG¹, Zhichao LUO^2,³, Mingxin HUANG^2,³

1 State Key Laboratory of Rolling Technology and Automation, Northeastern University, Shenyang 110819, China
2 Department of Mechanical Engineering, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong 00852, China
3 Shenzhen Institute of Research and Innovation, The University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen 518000, China

Cite this article:

Baogang WANG, Hongliang YI, Guodong WANG, Zhichao LUO, Mingxin HUANG. Reconstruction of 3D Morphology of TiB₂ in In Situ Fe Matrix Composites. Acta Metall Sin, 2019, 55(1): 133-140.

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Abstract

TiB₂strengthened Fe matrix composites (Fe-TiB₂) are potential lightweight materials for lightweight structure materials as they possess high modulus, low density, high strength and good ductility. More importantly, Fe-TiB₂composite can be produced by eutectic solidification, which is suitable for massive production using thin slab casting and strip casting in the steel industry. The microstructure of Fe-TiB₂ composite is composed of ferrite matrix, primary TiB₂ and eutectic TiB₂ reinforcements. Ceramic TiB₂ is a hard brittle phase and it is easy to generate stress concentration when bearing load. The shape and size of TiB₂ can affect the mechanical properties of Fe-TiB₂ composite and the formability of sheet metal. The morphology and size of TiB₂ reinforcements are commonly observed using optical or electron microscope, which can only provide two-dimensional (2D) cross-section of the reinforcements. Nevertheless, the TiB₂ particles have various aspect ratios in three-dimensional (3D) space, which have not yet been well investigated. The present work proposes a new method combining deep etching and computer aided design (Creo Parametric) technology to reconstruct the 3D morphology of TiB₂ reinforcements in the Fe-TiB₂ composites. The OM, SEM were used to compare and analyze the 2D and 3D morphologies of the TiB₂ reinforcements. The fracture mechanism of the Fe-TiB₂ composite was reinterpreted by compression test. The results indicated that the primary TiB₂ reinforcements have an octahedral prism structure, which is mostly composed of two or even more single crystal prisms, and are randomly distributed in the matrix without preferred orientations. The eutectic TiB₂ reinforcements consist of lamelliform/fine columnar phase and dendrite phase. The lamelliform/fine columnar and dendrite eutectic phase in Fe-TiB₂ composite are more prone to brittle fracture than the primary phase TiB₂during loading. Therefore, it is the main cause of fracture failure of the material during loading. The small TiB₂ particles observed by 2D microstructure do not exist in real 3D space. It is proposed that small and spherical TiB₂ particles are preferred and could be produced by controlling solidification process.

Key words: Fe matrix composite reinforced phase TiB₂ three-dimensional morphology primary phase eutectic phase

Received: 01 July 2018

ZTFLH:

O766

Fund: Supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos.51722402 and U1560204) and Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (No.N170705001)

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	Baogang WANG
	Hongliang YI
	Guodong WANG
	Zhichao LUO
	Mingxin HUANG

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https://www.ams.org.cn/EN/10.11900/0412.1961.2018.00297 OR https://www.ams.org.cn/EN/Y2019/V55/I1/133

Fig.1 OM image of as cast Fe-13%TiB₂ composites (a) and abstract diagrams of irregular block/particle TiB₂ (b), cellular/ring-like TiB₂ (c) and fibrous/bar TiB₂ (d)

Fig.2 SEM images of Fe-13%TiB₂ composites by deep corrosion (a, b) and reconstructed 3D morphology diagrams of the reinforced phase TiB₂ (c, d)
(a) spatial morphology of primary phase TiB₂
(b) spatial morphology of eutectic phase TiB₂
(c) typical 3D morphology of the reinforced phase TiB₂
(d) reconstructed Fe-TiB₂ composites spatial morphology

Fig.3 SEM images of Fe-13%TiB₂ composites with different compressive strains
(a) 1.5% (b) 5% (c) 35% (d) 65%

Fig.4 Cutting section of reconstructed 3D reinforced phase TiB₂ and typical 2D morphology diagrams
(a) section projection for irregular block/particle TiB₂
(b) section projection for special block TiB₂
(c) section projection for cellular/ring-like TiB₂
(d) section projection for fibrous/bar TiB₂

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