High Temperature Deformation Behavior of In-Situ Synthesized Titanium-Based Composite Reinforced with Ultra-Fine TiB Whiskers

A TiB/Ti-6Al-4V composite reinforced with ultra-fine TiB whiskers (UF-TiB) was prepared by the powder metallurgy method. High temperature compression tests were carried out to study the hot deformation behavior of the UF-TiB/Ti-6Al-4V composite. The compressive deformation was performed in the temperature range of 900–1200 °C and the strain rate range of 0.001–10 s(−1). The results showed that stable flow occurred at the condition of 900–1200 °C/0.001–0.01 s(−1). The optimum working condition was 900 °C/0.001 s(−1), with the deformation mechanism of dynamic recrystallization (DRX). Instable flow occurred when the strain rate was higher than 0.01 s(−1), where the failure modes included adiabatic shear deformation, whisker breakage and whisker/matrix debonding. The deformability of the UF-TiB/Ti-6Al-4V composite was much better than the traditional casted and the pressed + sintered TiB/Ti-6Al-4V composites, which are typically reinforced with coarse-grained TiB whiskers. The high deformability was primarily attributed to the ultra-fine reinforcements, which could coordinate the deformation more effectively. In addition, a fine matrix microstructure also had a positive effect on deformability because the fine matrix microstructure could improve the grain boundary sliding.