TiB(2)-Based Composites for Ultra-High-Temperature Devices, Fabricated by SHS, Combining Strong and Weak Exothermic Reactions

TiB(2)-based ceramic matrix composites (CMCs) were fabricated using elemental powders of Ti, B and C. The self-propagating high temperature synthesis (SHS) was carried out for the highly exothermic “in situ” reaction of TiB(2) formation and the “tailing” synthesis of boron carbide characterized by weak exothermicity. Two series of samples were fabricated, one of them being prepared with additional milling of raw materials. The effects of TiB(2) vol fraction as well as grain size of reactant were investigated. The results revealed that combustion was not successful for a TiB(2):B(4)C molar ratio of 0.96, which corresponds to 40 vol% of TiB(2) in the composite, however the SHS reaction was initiated and self-propagated for the intended TiB(2):B(4)C molar ratio of 2.16 or above. Finally B(13)C(2) was formed as the matrix phase in each composite. Significant importance of the grain size of the C precursor with regard to the reaction completeness, which affected the microstructure homogeneity and hardness of investigated composites, was proved in this study. The grain size of Ti powder did not influence the microstructure of TiB(2) grains. The best properties (HV = 25.5 GPa, average grain size of 9 μm and homogenous microstructure), were obtained for material containing 80 vol% of TiB(2), fabricated using a graphite precursor of 2 μm.