Abstract:TiC reinforced Ti-6Al-4V matrix composites were fabricated by consumable arc-melting technology utilizing the reaction between titanium and graphite. The phase composition, microstructure and hardness of the TiC/Ti-6Al-4V composites were investigated by XRD, SEM and hardness testing equipment, respectively. The results show that the reinforcements are distributed uniformly in the matrix alloy. With the carbon content of the composites increasing from 0.15% to2.0%, the morphology of TiC transforms from particle into short-bar shape or chain-type consisting of featheriness or wheat-shape and finally into dendritic. Simultaneously, the hardness of the composites increases. The formation mechanisms of TiC can be analyzed as follows: the growth of dendritic primary TiC before the peritectic reaction is dominated by the solute concentration gradient, after peritectic reaction, the nucleation and growth of TiC in β-Ti leads to its forming of short-bar shape. The dendritic TiC mainly is distributed in the matrix grain, but the short-bar shape TiC mainly segregates at the grain boundary, especially at the triangular grain boundaries.

Key words: TiC/Ti-6Al-4V composites; microstructure; hardness; formation mechanism