Microstructure, Mechanical Characteristics, and Wear Performance of Spark Plasma Sintered TiB2–Si3N4 as Affected by B4N Doping

Abstract

This study aims to analyze the effect of boron nitride (B4N) additive (3–6%) on the densification, microstructure, mechanical properties, and wear performance of TiB2–15%Si3N4 and TiB2–30%Si3N4 sintered composites. When the B4N (3%) was added to the TiB2–30Si3N4 composite, the density increased to 99.5%, hardness increased to 25.2 MPa, and the fracture toughness increased to 4.62 MPam1/2. Microstructural analysis shows that in situ phases such as TiB2 help to improve the relative mechanical characteristics. However, raising the B4N 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.