Strengthening of TiC ceramics sintered by spark plasma via nano-graphite addition

Mehdi Fattahi, Aziz Babapoor*, Seyed Ali Delbari, Zohre Ahmadi, Abbas Sabahi Namini, Mehdi Shahedi Asl

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

70 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

In this research, 5 wt% nano-graphite was added to titanium carbide and its impacts on the microstructure and mechanical qualifications were evaluated. Monolithic and graphite-doped TiC samples were manufactured at 1900 °C under 40 MPa for 10 min by spark plasma sintering method. Graphite nano-flakes enhanced the densification behavior, flexural strength, and friction coefficient of TiC ceramics. The XRD, microstructural, and thermodynamical assessments revealed the occurrence of a chemical reaction between the carbonaceous phase and TiC oxide layers, namely TiO2, and the formation of non-stochiometric TiCx and in-situ TiC. Although introducing nano-graphite as an additive decreased the Vickers hardness of TiC by ~34% (2071 HV0.1 Kg for the doped specimen), it had a positive influence on the flexural strength (504 and 633 MPa for monolithic and graphite doped samples; respectively). Finally, an average friction coefficient of 0.35 was obtained for TiC-5 wt% graphite ceramic, ~13% higher than that of the monolithic TiC sample.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)12400-12408
Number of pages9
JournalCeramics International
Volume46
Issue number8
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Jun 2020
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Graphite nano-flakes
  • Mechanical properties
  • Microstructure
  • Spark plasma sintering
  • Titanium carbide

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