Microstructure, Mechanical Characteristics, and Wear Performance of Spark Plasma Sintered TiB 2 -Si 3 N 4 as Affected by B 4 N Doping.

This study aims to analyze the effect of boron nitride (B 4 N) additive (3-6%) on the densification, microstructure, mechanical properties, and wear performance of TiB 2 -15%Si 3 N 4 and TiB 2 -30%Si 3 N 4 sintered composites. When the B 4 N (3%) was added to the TiB 2 -30Si 3 N 4 composite, the density increased to 99.5%, hardness increased to 25.2 MPa, and the fracture toughness increased to 4.62 MPam 1/2 . Microstructural analysis shows that in situ phases such as TiB 2 help to improve the relative mechanical characteristics. However, raising the B 4 N additive to 6% in the above-sintered composite reduces the composites' relative density and hardness. The tested sintered composites demonstrated that their superior wear resistance can be attributed to their increased density and hardness.