Abstract
TiCN-based cermets with varied fractions of Si3N4nanopowder (0–5 wt.%) were prepared by spark plasma sintering. The microstructural and mechanical properties of these cermets were investigated. In general, with increasing addition amount of Si3N4nanopowder the relative density as well as mechanical properties of the as-prepared TiCN cermets increased first and then decreased. The samples containing 2 wt.% Si3N4nanopowder presented the best performance with the relative density of about 98%, bending strength of 1000 MPa, and Vickers microhardness of about 1810 HV10.
Highlights
TiCN-based cermets have attracted extensive attention as cutting tools, moulds, and various wear-resistant components
Most studies have focused on the strengthening and toughening of such kind of materials, in which some tried to produce nanosized or ultra-fine cermets based on the well-known Hall-Patch equation: the smaller TiCN grains the higher cermet hardness and strength [8,9,10], and others added some second phases like metal carbides [11,12,13] or nanoadditives into the cermet matrix [14,15,16]
By XRD, WC (JCPDS card: 65-8828), TiC0.3N0.7 (JCPD: 421488), Ni (JCPDS: 65-0380), and MoC (JCPDS: 65-0280) phases were identified in each sample
Summary
TiCN-based cermets have attracted extensive attention as cutting tools, moulds, and various wear-resistant components. They are known to possess higher hardness and better chemical stability in some respects than traditional WCbased hard metals [1,2,3,4,5,6,7]. The grain growth could be suppressed, which is in favor of improving the mechanical properties of engineering materials. It has been increasingly used in preparing various composites [17,18,19,20,21,22]. There was no report about TiCN-based cermets with Si3N4 nanopowders prepared by SPS
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