International Scientific Journals
of Scientific Technical Union of Mechanical Engineering "Industry 4.0"

Titanium matrix composites reinforced with titanium borides (TiB) represent a promising class of advanced structural materials due to their high specific strength, hardness, wear resistance, and thermal stability. The combination of titanium alloys with ceramic TiB reinforcing phases enables the development of lightweight materials with improved mechanical and эксплуатаційними characteristics for aerospace, biomedical, and engineering applications.
This study investigates the fabrication of Ti/TiB titanium matrix composites using X-Beam 3D printing technology. The process is based on electron-beam additive manufacturing under vacuum conditions, which ensures stable melting conditions, reduced oxidation, and controlled heat input during layer-by-layer deposition. Special attention was focused on the in situ formation of TiB reinforcing phases and their influence on the microstructure evolution of the composite material.
Microstructural analysis was carried out using scanning electron microscopy and metallographic techniques. The obtained results demonstrated the formation of dense composite structures with relatively low porosity and homogeneous distribution of reinforcing phases within the titanium matrix. TiB particles and whisker-like precipitates were observed to form during solidification, contributing to microstructure refinement and strengthening effects.
The fabricated Ti/TiB composites exhibited improved structural uniformity and enhanced hardness compared with unreinforced titanium materials. The morphology and distribution of TiB phases were found to depend on the thermal conditions and processing parameters of X-Beam printing. The results confirm the potential of X-Beam additive manufacturing for producing advanced titanium matrix composites with tailored microstructure and improved performance characteristics.

This study investigates the mechanisms of liquid-phase assisted sintering in high-entropy ceramics (HECs) using a nickel binder. The research focuses on the densification process of (Ti, Zr, Hf, Nb, Ta)C-based cermets with 10 vol% Ni, and how pressure influence liquid-phase extraction. Results show that eutectic reactions between Ni and carbide phases was observed during liquid formation below 1400°C. Microstructural analysis reveals a nickel-rich matrix, solid solutions, and NbC-based carbide inclusions in the extracted drop. These findings provide insights into optimizing processing parameters for advanced HEC-based composites.

The contact interaction between the metal matrix composite based on Ti64 and the B4C-based composite was investigated. It is shown that the interaction process is influenced by the annealing temperature and holding time. The phase that formed independently of the contact pair is TiB. However, the thickness of the products formed at the boundary depends on the contact pair. In case of the Ti64-B4C pair the thickness is 70 μm, while for (Ti64-40 wt% TiC)-B4C it becomes 10 μm. This significant difference in the thickness is due to the presence of refractory particles (TiC) in (Ti64-40 wt% TiC)-B4C couple, because the TiC phse reduce the diffusion of Ti into the contact zone.

Titanium–titanium boride (Ti/TiC) metal matrix composites have been widely identified as promising materials for various applications. The traditional ingot metallurgy processing strategies used to fabricate these materials are energy intensive and have fallen short of their perceived mass production potentials. Powder metallurgy processing of Ti/TiC composites from titanium and TiC powder blends, is currently widely used for the cost-efficient production of such composites. Additional processing by the method of hot pressing improves the structure and mechanical properties of this class of materials. The composites have the heterogenous microstructure with areas high hardness area over 1173 HV. While matrix and inclusions had the value of 700 HV.