The Structural Properties of Fe-Ti-B Based Alloys Produced by Mechanical Alloying

Abstract

In the present study, the production of Fe-Ti-B based alloys was realized and their structure and properties were investigated. Mechanical alloying proceeds by the continual cold welding and fracturing of the constituent mixture of Ti+413+5Fe powder when subjected to the large compressive forces of a high speed mill. The powder charge together with 7 mm diameter steel balls were loaded into a tool steel grinding container at approximately 350 RPM for 20 h. The samples were shaped as cylinder of O15x8 mm dimensions by uniaxial pressing at 450 MPa. Then, the green body materials were produced by sintering at 1100 degrees C for 1-4 h in argon atmosphere. The morphology of composite materials was investigated by optical microscopy and scanning electron microscopy and phase analysis was realized by x-ray diffraction analysis. The bulk densities of the materials were measured using by Archimedes method. Also, the micro-hardness of the samples was measured by Vickers indentation technique. As a result, Fe, iron boride (FeB, Fe2B) and titanium boride (TiB2) phases were detected in the phase analysis of the Fe-Ti-B based materials. The hardness of the materials was measured between 1107 HV0.05 and 1551 HV0.05, depending on sintering time. The densities of the samples were determined between 4.205 g/cm(3) and 4.219 g/cm(3).