The effect of forging temperature on microstructure and mechanical properties of in situ TiC/Ti composites

In this paper, 2 vol% TiC/Ti-1100 composites were fabricated using in situ technologies, and the β transus temperature of the composite was measured by metallographic techniques. The ingots after breakdown were forged in various temperature ranges, i.e. in the β phase field, in the (α + β) phase field, started in the β phase field and finished in the (α + β) phase field and in the upper α field. Microstructure of the composite after this four type forgings was studied by optical microscopy. Mechanical properties of the composite after various forgings were tested by tensile tests at 873 K. It was found that there is an about 100 K an increase in β transus temperature compared to monolithic Ti-1100 alloy. Typical microstructures were obtained after forging at different temperature ranges. The composite with different microstructure offers different mechanical properties during tensile tests.