Microstructure and mechanical properties of boron-fiber-reinforced titanium-matrix composites produced by pulsed current hot pressing (PCHP)

Boron-fiber-reinforced Ti-matrix composites were fabricated by a pulsed current hot pressing (PCHP) process at various holding temperatures between 973 and 1273 K at a pressure of 32 MPa for 600 s. It was found that the boron fiber and the Ti-matrix were well bonded when the PCHP process was carried out at 1073 K. When a holding temperature of the PCHP process was higher than 1173 K, a TiB2 compound layer was formed along the interface between the boron fiber and the matrix, and crystallization of amorphous boron occurred in the vicinity of the tungsten core in the fiber. The thickness of TiB2 layer and the amount of crystallized boron increased with increasing holding temperature. The composite produced by the PCHP process at 1073 K with 17.2 vol.% boron fiber presented a tensile yield stress of 706 MPa when deformed at room temperature. This value was about 80% of the yield stress estimated by a force-equilibrium equation of a composite taking into account the direction of fiber axis.